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The Young Wireless Operator — Afloat 


Books by Lewis E. 

Theiss 

In Camp at Fort Brady 

A CAMPING STORY. 

304 Pages. 

His Big Brother 


A STORY OF THE 

STRUGGLES 

AND TRIUMPHS OF 

A LITTLE 

SON OF LIBERTY. 

320 Pages. 

Lumberjack Bob 


A TALE OF THE ALLEGHANIES. 


320 Pages. 

The Wireless Patrol at Camp 

Brady 


A STORY OF HOW 

THE BOY 

CAMPERS, THROUGH THEIR 
KNOWLEDGE OF WIRELESS, 

“DID THEIR BIT.” 

320 Pages. 

The Secret Wireless 


A STORY OF THE CAMP BRADY 

PATROL. 

320 Pages. 

The Hidden Aerial 


THE SPY LINE ON 

THE MOUN- 

TAIN. 

332 Pages. 

Cloth “Bound — Colored Frontispiece 

Price, $1.75 net each 








The Young Wireless 
Operator— Afloat 

or 

HOW ROY MER CER WON HIS SPURS 
IN THE MERCHANT MARINE 


By 

LEWIS E^THEISS 

W 

Illustrated by Original Photographs 



W. A. WILDE COMPANY 


BOSTON 


CHICAGO 




Copyrighted, ig20. 

By W. A. Wilde Company 

All rights reserved 

The Young Wireless Operator — Afloat 


MAR 19 1921 


§) C!. A 6 1 1 2 5 6 


©eblcatton 


To few of us is it given to know where our 
arrows come to earth or what shore is washed by 
the ripples we create in the sea of life. But so 
much is certain ; somewhere our arrows do come 
to earth, and somewhere the waves we set in 
motion do wash the beach. And each arrow shot 
from our bows and each wavelet we set in motion 
is fraught with unseen possibilities for good or 
evil. Whether we be man or child or growing 
youth., we cannot escape the responsibilities en- 
tailed ; and, if we do with our might what our 
hands find to do, our arrows and our ripples in 
Time’s sea can cause only good. 

In His wise providence the Almighty has so or- 
dained that the faith and enthusiasm of youth are 
often more effective than the coldly reasoned acts 
of maturity. If so be that many lads shall read this 
and companion stories of the wireless and find 
therein either pleasure or profit, they will owe their 
gain to the fact that a youth who has passed to the 
great beyond shot his arrow into the air with all 
the courage and enthusiasm that a high soul and 
a brave heart could command. To that youth, 

IKelson Ifcfmball TOlfce 

whose boyish enthusiasm for radio communi- 
cation first interested the writer in wireless 
telegraphy, this book is affectionately dedicated. 



r 


Foreword 


T O-DAY the American Merchant Marine 
commands the respect of the world, for in 
increasing numbers vessels flying the Stars and 
Stripes are seen on every sea. 

That our boys may know more about the many 
experiences which such vessels encounter and to 
tell the story of how Roy Mercer made good as 
a wireless operator upon one of these vessels, is 
the purpose of the author in penning this story 
of life on the high sea. 


/ 


7 



Contents 


I. 

The New Wireless Man 


II 

II. 

The Secret of Success . 


. 24 

III. 

Roy's First Fire . 


• 34 

IV. 

In Lower New York . 


. 50 

V. 

A Friend in Need 


. 69 

VI. 

Off to Sea .... 


. 81 

VII. 

The Night's Work 


• 94 

VIII. 

Where Cotton is King 


107 

IX. 

Thwarting a Wireless Incen: 

DIARY 

. 129 

X. 

A Lesson in Diplomacy 


• 152 

XI. 

A Visit to Chinatown . 


• J 73 

XII. 

A Close Call 


. 198 

XIII. 

Roy Gains Another Friend 


. 221 

XIV. 

A Trip to the Oil Fields 


. 229 

XV. 

SOS 


. 240 

XVI. 

Latitude 28 — Longitude 96 


. 266 

XVII. 

Land Ahead ! . . . 


. 281 

XVIII. 

Back Into the Storm . 


. 298 

XIX. 

Victory 

. 

• 3 H 


9 





The Young Wireless 
Operator— Afloat 


CHAPTER I 

THE NEW WIRELESS MAN 

R OY MERCER sat by a window in a fast 
express-train that was rushing across the 
Newark meadows on the way to New York City. 
Three years previously Roy had made a similar 
trip. As he looked back now over those three 
years, it seemed to him impossible that so much 
could have happened in so short a time. When 
he had first crossed these same meadows the coun- 
try was engaged in deadly warfare, and he had 
come, with other members of the Camp Brady 
Wireless Patrol, to help the government find the 
secret wireless system by which German spies 
were sending abroad information as to the move- 
ments of American troops and American trans- 
ports. Long ago the wireless patrol had accom- 
plished its work and gone home. Now the great 
World War was ended. And although peace 
had not been formally declared, more than seven 
months had already elapsed since the signing of 
11 


12 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

the armistice that had brought an end to the ter- 
rible conflict. In that period the nation had 
swung back into its accustomed channels, and the 
activities of peace had succeeded the feverish ef- 
forts of war. 

But the thing that had made the greatest dif- 
ference in Roy’s life was the death of his father. 
Long ago the cherished hope of a college course 
had disappeared, for upon Roy had devolved the 
duty of caring, not only for himself, but also for 
his mother. Manfully he had put aside his desire 
and taken up the hard task that confronted him. 
Through great determination and perseverance, 
coupled with the devotion of his mother, Roy had 
managed to complete his course at the Central 
City High School. Now, at nineteen years of 
age, he was about to make, his way alone in the 
world. 

His active outdoor life, and the hard work he 
had been compelled to do since the death of his 
father, had developed Roy both physically and 
mentally. Always alert, keen, and quick, in 
these last few months he had developed unusual 
qualities of self-reliance, trustworthiness, and 
good judgment that promised well for his future 
success. But Roy was fortunate enough to have 
more than good qualities to start life with. Un- 
like many boys who go to New York to seek 


THE MW WIRELESS MAN 


13 


their fortunes, Roy already had a job. He was 
going to be the wireless man on the steamship 
Lycoming . The vessel was one of the new 
steamers built by Uncle Sam during the war, and 
was very shortly to make her maiden trip as a 
coastwise liner between New York and Galveston. 

As Roy sat musing over the events that had 
led up to his present journey to America’s great- 
est seaport, his train of thought was suddenly in- 
terrupted by the loud voice of a brakeman. 

“ Manhattan Transfer!” shouted that indi- 
vidual. “ Change cars for lower New York. 
This car goes to the Pennsylvania Station at 
Thirty-third Street.” 

The train came to a grinding stop. Immedi- 
ately there was great hustle and bustle. Pas- 
sengers poured out of the coaches and crossed 
the narrow platform to the waiting cars on the 
farther track. Others stood on the platform 
ready to swarm into the newly arrived train. 
Roy’s destination was lower Manhattan, but he 
made no move to change cars. His orders did 
not require him to report for duty until the next 
day. He was in no hurry. He had come a day 
ahead of time in order to familiarize himself with 
his instruments and his new quarters, and make 
the acquaintance of his future associates. Just 
now he wanted to see something of the city. So 


14 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

he sat quietly in his seat, watching the hurrying 
throng on the platform. 

Presently there was a slight shock that jarred 
the great steel coaches, and Roy knew that the 
big steam locomotive that had hauled the train 
from Central City had been replaced by an elec- 
tric locomotive that was to pull the train through 
the tunnel under the Pludson River. A few 
seconds later the conductor cried out his warning, 
and the train glided smoothly away from the long 
platform. Soon it was flying across the stretches 
of meadow that lay between the junction point 
they had just left and the landward side of the 
Palisades, where it would plunge under ground. 

The very last leg of Roy’s journey had begun. 
The very last step in that long stairway of years 
that led from the cradle to man’s estate was under 
foot. For though Roy lacked two years of his 
majority, he was henceforth to take a man’s place 
among men. Roy thrilled at the thought that 
inside of twenty-four hours he would no longer 
be plain Roy Mercer, the Central City High 
School lad, but Mr. Mercer of the Marconi serv- 
ice, with his own quarters aboard a fine ship, a 
place at the officers’ table, and a smart uniform. 
Perhaps the idea of the uniform appealed to Roy 
quite as much as did the knowledge that he was 
about to take his place among the ship’s officers. 


THE JSEW WIRELESS MAN 


15 


His heart beat fast, and his whole being thrilled 
with pride at the thought that he was the young- 
est operator in the Marconi service. Roy fairly 
hugged himself as he thought of his good luck 
in securing such a desirable berth. 

Then the thought came to him that perhaps it 
wasn’t all luck after all. Certainly, he thought, 
he must have deserved at least a part of his good 
fortune. There was nothing conceited about 
Roy. But he knew, as no one else could know, 
how hard he had worked to perfect himself in 
wireless telegraphy, and how faithful he had been 
in the performance of his duty as a member of the 
wireless patrol. For it was the reputation that 
he had made during the wireless patrol’s search 
for the secret wireless that had won him his pres- 
ent position as wireless man on the Lycoming. 

Straightway he fell to musing over the events 
of the years that had passed since his first summer 
in camp at Fort Brady. Vividly he recalled how 
he and Henry Harper had slowly and laboriously 
constructed their first wireless outfits after some 
blueprint patterns sent to Henry by the latter’s 
uncle; how every member of the Camp Brady 
group had made a similar instrument; how the 
little band had become the wireless patrol when 
war threatened, and how they had run down the 
German dynamiters at Elk City. With pride he 


16 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 

thought of his recent services in New York, when 
he and three other members of the wireless patrol 
had been selected to help the United States Secret 
Service uncover the secret wireless of the Ger- 
mans. Roy was not the sort of boy to flatter 
himself, but he knew well enough that never in 
the world would he have been accepted in the 
Marconi service at his age or been made wireless 
man on the Lycoming had it not been for the 
efficient work done in days past. 

“ It’s a mighty encouraging thing to know,” 
said Roy to himself, “ that my getting the job 
wasn’t all luck. If I earned this place, I can 
earn a still better one. But it means hard work. 
It means that I’ve got to be absolutely faithful in 
everything I do, always on the job, always on the 
lookout to help the company, always courteous to 
passengers, always helpful to my captain. Gee 
whiz! It’s some job ahead of me. I can see 
that all right. And I can see that above every- 
thing else I’ve got to make good with my captain. 
What he says about my work will determine 
whether or not I ever get ahead. But I’ll make 
good. I’ve just got to. I’ve done it before and 
I can again. But it means work, work, work.” 

Roy’s heart beat high with courage. His jaws 
tightened and a look of determination came into 
his face. Then succeeded a glow of pride as Roy 


THE NEW WIRELESS MAN 


17 


thought of the times he had already been tried 
and had made good. ITe smiled with satisfaction 
as he recalled that it was he who caught the mes- 
sage of the German spies at Elk City. 

How well he recalled his vigil that night. 
How long the hours were. How dark and still 
it was there in the forest, with his comrades of the 
wireless patrol all asleep and he alone left to 
guard them and to keep watch for forbidden 
radio messages. He recalled how sleepy he was, 
how he had fought off his weariness and listened 
in, hour after hour, for suspicious voices in the 
air. Even now his heart beat faster as he lived 
over the final triumph of that night. He could 
almost hear again that faint little buzz in his ear 
that proved to be the secret message they were 
watching for. 

Suppose he had been asleep at that instant. 
Suppose he had been unfaithful in his watch. 
Suppose he had relaxed his vigilance for even a 
few seconds. The message would never have 
been intercepted. The dynamiters would never 
have been caught. The people of Elk City would 
have paid for his faithlessness with their lives. 
Roy shuddered at the thought of the awful wall 
of water that might have overwhelmed the un- 
fortunate dwellers in that city had the reservoir 
been dynamited. 


18 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ But I wasn’t unfaithful,” muttered Roy to 
himself. “ I did my work right, just as I am 
going to do it on board the Lycoming. And if I 
do, I’ll win the good-will of Captain Lansford, 
just as sure as I won that of Captain Hardy.” 
Again a look of determination came into Roy’s 
face. “ I’ve just got to make good,” he muttered 
to himself. “ I’ve just got to. And I will.” 

A subtle change came over his face. Once 
more his mind had gone back to the scenes about 
Elk City. He was thinking of his secret jour- 
ney in a motor-car through an isolated and rough 
mountain road with the outfits of his companions. 
Vividly he recalled how a big boulder had come 
crashing down the mountainside, breaking his 
steering gear. • He smiled with satisfaction as he 
recalled how he had met the situation by impro- 
vising a wireless outfit with some wires, an um- 
brella, and the battery of his car. How pleased 
his captain had been ! 

“ I’m going to please Captain Lansford just 
as much,” said Roy to himself, and once more 
that look of determination came into his face. 

Then the train suddenly shot under ground 
and daylight was blotted out. Down, down, 
deep into the earth Roy could feel the train 
descending, though the grade was very gradual. 
His ears began to feel queer and he knew that he 


THE NEW WIRELESS MAN 


19 


must be in the deepest part of the tunnel. Then 
the train moved upward. In another minute it 
shot into the light. Roy glanced out of the win- 
dow at the high cement walls on either side. 
They were at the Pennsylvania Station. Roy 
rose and moved toward the door. His face was 
flushed. His pulse beat fast. He felt like a 
runner toeing the mark. He was about to begin 
the race of life. He felt fit. He was trained to 
the minute. His whole being pulsed with joy. 
He had left boyhood behind. Henceforth he 
would be a man among men. In every sense he 
determined to be one. All aglow with high re- 
solve, he passed out of the train, through the great 
station, and into the roaring streets. 

The glow of satisfaction faded from his face. 
Cold and hostile seemed the city. The rushing 
traffic appeared cruel and heartless, threatening 
to overwhelm even the vigilant. Passers-by were 
as cold and unfriendly as the hard and echoing 
stone pavements. They brushed by, seemingly 
indifferent to any one or anything but themselves 
and their own concerns. The very air was raw 
and chilly. The entire atmosphere was oppress- 
ive. It seemed to take the heart out of Roy. 
It made him feel how tiny he was, how insignifi- 
cant in comparison with this great aggregation 
of forces that men had brought together. Sud- 


20 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

denly Roy realized that this was the thing he had 
to fight — this roaring thing called a city, where 
every man’s hand would be against him, where 
he could get ahead only by brute force, by over- 
coming whatever obstacles rose in his way. Ap- 
parently there was not a soul to help him. Suc- 
cess or failure depended upon his own efforts. 
The thought was bewildering, crushing, disheart- 
ening. For an instant fear clutched his heart 
and blanched his face. 

And that was not because he was terrified by 
the noise of the unaccustomed traffic, or confused 
by the hurry and bustle. Those features of the 
city’s life were as familiar to Roy as the city 
itself was, for in the weeks he had spent in New 
York during the search for the secret wireless, he 
had become well acquainted with the geography 
of the town. The difference was that then he 
was with friends. Henry Harper and Lew 
Heinsling and Willie Brown were with him, and 
their beloved leader, Captain Hardy, was always 
watching their movements to keep them out of 
trouble and direct their efforts. Then Roy had 
been among friends. Now he knew not where to 
find a friendly face. For the first time in his life 
he was realizing, as thousands of boys before him 
have realized, the awful loneliness that can come 
to one in a big city. The feeling almost over- 


THE NEW WIBELESS MAN 


21 


whelmed him. Gone were his plans to see some- 
thing of the city. A friendly face meant more 
to him now than all the sights New York had 
ever held. 

“ I’ll go straight to the Lycoming ” said Roy 
to himself. “ Even if I don’t know any of the 
men on board, they will at least be friendly.” 

He hurried over to Ninth Avenue and caught 
a south-bound elevated railway train. In less 
than half an hour he left the train and made his 
way to the water-front. The vast expanse of 
asphalt known as “ the farm,” that borders the 
Hudson for miles, was seething with traffic. 
Skilfully Roy picked his way across the wide 
thoroughfare, dodging trucks and drays, and 
heading straight for the big piers of the Con- 
federated Steamship Lines. 

The watchman at the entrance stopped him 
and demanded to know his business. Roy ex- 
plained. 

“ Go on,” said the watchman, but he looked at 
Roy suspiciously. 

Roy passed on into the great pier shed. At 
one side of the pier lay the Lycoming . Nobody 
paid the least attention to Roy. He made his 
way aboard the vessel. 

“ What do you want here? ” asked a sailor 
gruffly, as he slouched on the gangway. 


22 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEBATOE 

“ I want to see the captain,” said Roy. 

“ He’s busy. Come around later,” replied the 
sailor. 

“ I’m the new wireless man,” explained Roy. 

“ I didn’t recognize you, sir,” said the sailor, 
instantly straightening up and touching his cap. 
“ The captain is in his cabin. This way, sir.” 
And he led Roy to an upper deck. 

“ Come in,” said a gruff voice, in answer to 
Roy’s knock. 

Roy pushed open the captain’s door and 
stepped inside the cabin. “ I’m the new wireless 
man, Captain Lansford,” he said briefly. “ My 
name is Roy Mercer.” 

The ship’s commander rose to his feet. He 
was fully six feet tall and large of frame. His 
hair was black, and heavy, bushy, black brows 
almost hid his dark, piercing eyes. His nose was 
large and hawk-like. So weather-beaten was his 
skin that it seemed almost like leather. For a 
moment he uttered not a word, as he looked Roy 
over from head to foot. Then, in a tone of utter 
disgust, he said, “You — a wireless man! Bah! 
A wireless babe ! I’ll see about this quick,” and 
he stalked angrily from the cabin. 

“ Wireless man! Bah! ” repeated the captain 
as he hurried down the stairway. “ Thirty years 
I’ve sailed the seas and the only wireless I ever 


THE NEW WIRELESS MAN 


23 


saw was God’s lightning. Yet I never lost a man 
or a ship. The owners have ordered it, and I 
suppose I’ll have to put up with their newfangled 
machines. But I’ll be hanged if I’ll have an in- 
fant in arms to work ’em. That’s flat. I’ll tell 
those Marconi people what’s what.” And he 
bustled angrily off to the telephone in the office 
at the shoreward end of the pier shed. 

Meantime Roy stood in the captain’s cabin, 
disheartened and disconsolate. No wonder he 
felt downhearted. The man he must please had 
taken a dislike to him at the very outset. He 
did not know what to do, so he did nothing. 
With a heart like lead he waited for the return 
of Captain Lansford. Presently that irate in- 
dividual came storming back. 

“ Get up to the wireless house,” he said roughly. 
“I’ve got to keep you for three months until a 
new class is ready. But I don’t need any wire- 
less to run my ship by, so don’t you come bother- 
ing me. Good-day, sir.” 

“ Good-day, sir,” echoed Roy, but the echo was 
very faint indeed. Disconsolately he stepped 
from the captain’s cabin, found his way to the 
wireless house, and shut the door tight behind 
him. For the moment his courage was almost 
gone. Sick at heart, he sat down to think over 
the situation. 


CHAPTER II 


THE SECRET OF SUCCESS 

“TT’S the same old story,” muttered Roy to 
himself, after a time. “ I wonder if they 
will ever stop saying 4 You’re only a boy.’ That’s 
what they said at Camp Brady. Yet the wire- 
less patrol ran down the dynamiters when the 
state police couldn’t find them. That’s what they 
said here in New York when we were searching 
for the secret wireless. Yet we found it, even if 
we were boys. That’s what Captain Lansford 
says now. Shall I ever be old enough to escape 
it?” 

Yet it was fortunate for Roy that he was but 
nineteen. At nineteen one possesses the resiliency 
of youth. One rebounds like a rubber ball. It 
was so with Roy. A while longer he sat, his head 
buried in his hands, his heart full of woe. 
Hardly could he keep the tears back. Then the 
buoyancy of youth asserted itself. 

“ Only a boy,” he said presently, straightening 
up. “ Isn’t there anybody in the world who 
24 


THE SECEET OF SUCCESS 25 

knows that sometimes boys have brains and cour- 
age and common sense? What was David but a 
boy when he fought Goliath? What was Gen- 
eral Grant but a boy when he loaded the logs 
alone? Who fought the Civil War but boys? 
I don’t care if I am a boy. I can read and send 
wireless messages with the best of them, and 
there’s nothing conceited in my saying so, for 
it’s a fact. Only a boy, eh? All right, I’ll show 
them what a boy can do. Maybe that captain 
can run his ship without the help of wireless, but 
I’ll bet that after he’s had the wireless service 
for ” 

Roy broke off suddenly and his face became 
very serious. “ I almost forgot,” he said to him- 
self soberly, “ that I have only three months to 
serve on this ship. Just as soon as the next class 
is graduated from the Marconi Institute, I’ll lose 
my job.” 

Roy’s face was very long indeed. “ Maybe 
I’ll never get another place,” he said. “ If I 
can’t make good on this ship, how can I ever get 
a job on another boat? ” 

For a while Roy sat in deep thought. Then 
a wan smile flitted across his face. “ You’re do- 
ing just what Captain Hardy warned you not to 
do,” he muttered to himself. “ You’re brooding 
over trouble. If Captain Hardy were here, he’d 


26 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

tell you to get busy and make good before you 
lose your job. That’s what he would say. Well, 
I don’t know just what to do, but I’ll make a be- 
ginning anyway. And that’ll be to get into my 
uniform.” 

Roy jumped to his feet, opened his case, and 
took out his shining new uniform. Rapidly he 
put off his old suit and donned the new. A 
mirror hung at one end of his room. In this Roy 
surveyed himself with unqualified satisfaction. 
The trim, blue uniform fitted him snugly, empha- 
sizing the fact that he possessed unusually broad, 
square shoulders and a slim waist. He stood up 
before the glass as straight as a young pine. Any 
one with half an eye for physique could have told 
that he was unusually powerful for a boy of his 
age and that he gave promise of being a man of 
great strength. His quick turns, as he surveyed 
himself, first on one side and then on the other, 
gave ample evidence of his agility. Could Cap- 
tain Lansford, who admired physical prowess 
above almost every other quality, have seen Roy 
now, he might have formed a more favorable 
opinion of his new wireless man. 

The Scriptures tell us that as a man thinketh 
in his heart, so is he. The truth of that saying 
was illustrated now in Roy’s case. The pride of 
his new position and his new uniform filled his 


THE SECEET OF SUCCESS 


27 


soul. Gone was the stoop in his shoulders. The 
expression of gloom had disappeared from his 
countenance. In its place appeared the old 
look of cheerful confidence and determination. 
Straightway Roy began to look about him. 

The glow of satisfaction on his face deepened. 
His little house, perched on the topmost deck 
like an eagle’s aerie, was snug and comfortable 
beyond anticipation. To Roy it seemed almost 
palatial. The portion that was partitioned off 
for his sleeping quarters contained his bunk, a 
commodious closet, the fine mirror before which 
he now stood, and all the other accommodations 
that would be found in a first-class stateroom. 
The woodwork was beautifully finished. Gen- 
erous coils of steam-pipes gave promise of abun- 
dant warmth even when the fiercest winter storms 
were blowing. Convenient electric fixtures were 
provided for lighting. Altogether his quarters 
were so snug and inviting that Roy momentarily 
forgot his troubles. 

When he had ended his survey of his little 
sleeping room and stepped into the wireless room 
proper, his heart fairly leaped with j,oy. On one 
side of the little cabin was the operating table, 
with its array of shining instruments. A leather- 
covered couch stood along the opposite wall. 
There was a small rack for signal and code books, 


28 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

stationery, etc., and a chair or two. But Roy 
gave scant attention to the furnishings. He had 
eyes only for the beautiful, glittering instruments 
on the operating table. The wireless outfit was 
complete. It included every necessary instru- 
ment, and each was of the finest type, with the 
latest improvements. Exultantly Roy fingered 
one after another. Never had he dared hope to 
have such an outfit as was now his. Of course 
it was not literally his, but nevertheless Roy felt 
all the joy of ownership. For three months, at 
least, it would be his. No one else might touch 
those shining instruments. Not even the cap- 
tain, Roy fondly believed, would dare to molest 
them. Like Alexander Selkirk, Roy was mon- 
arch of all he surveyed. 

But the mere handling of his instruments 
would never satisfy a boy like Roy. He sat down 
at the table and eagerly clamped the receivers to 
his ears. Skilfully he tuned his instrument, now 
to this wave-length, now to that. Clear as bells 
on a frosty morning came the voices in the air, 
and Roy’s eyes sparkled as he listened in. 

By this time he had forgotten all about his 
rebuff by Captain Lansford. He was himself 
again, alert, quick, curious as to all about him, in- 
tently interested in every new phase of life. And 
life aboard ship was distinctly new to Roy. The 


THE SECRET OP SUCCESS 


29 


voices in the air he had listened to a thousand 
times. To him they were an old story. But a 
great, ocean-line steamship was still a delightful 
mystery to Roy. He wanted to know more 
about it. 

Laying his receivers on the table, he sprang to 
his feet, put on his new cap, with its gold braid 
and its letters wrought in gold, and left the cozy 
little wireless house. Hardly had he reached the 
ladder when his eye was caught by the activities 
on the pier. Though Roy had spent many weeks 
in New York, he had had small opportunity to 
see the shipping close at hand. So the scene on 
the pier below was as novel to Roy as though he 
had never been near a seaport. 

Streaming in and out of the steamer’s hold 
was a double line of stevedores, each pushing be- 
fore him a strong barrel truck. Those entering 
were trundling great boxes or bales. Those 
emerging pushed only their empty trucks. 
Boxes, bales, packages and parcels of every con- 
ceivable size and shape followed one another into 
the hold in endless procession, while as endlessly 
stevedores came empty-handed out of the ship. 
The steady procession of freight handlers re- 
minded Roy of a double line of ants, some laden, 
others with nothing to carry. Many a time Roy 
had watched ants bearing spoils to their nests. 


30 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

Often he had marveled at their strength, as they 
dragged along objects greater in size than them- 
selves. But never had he marveled at the ants 
as he now wondered at these brawny stevedores. 
Enormous boxes, twice or thrice their own bulk, 
and weighing, Roy felt sure, several hundred 
pounds apiece, they handled like so many bags of 
feathers, trundling them swiftly over the uneven 
plank flooring of the pier, shooting down the 
gangplank with them, often to the apparent 
imminent peril of their fellows. Yet never a col- 
lision occurred, and never a crate was spilled or 
upset. 

When Roy grew tired of watching the freight 
handlers, he turned aAvay from the ship’s rail and 
descended to the pier. For the first time in his 
life he had a really good look at the inside of a 
great pier shed. Jutting straight out from the 
shore, the long, narrow pier, built on pilings and 
tightly roofed over and Availed in, extended an 
unbelievable distance into the river. With quick 
appreciation of its real length, Roy saAv that one 
could run a hundred yards straightaAvay on the 
pier Avithout covering half its length. In Avidth 
it might have been seventy-five to one hundred 
feet. This great Avarehouse— for in effect it AA r as 
that — was piled high Avith mountainous heaps of 
freight, and a seemingly endless procession of 


THE SECRET OF SUCCESS 


31 


drays and motor-trucks was constantly adding to 
the store. From these huge piles the stevedores 
were bringing the freight they were rushing into 
the hold of the Lycoming. 

It was a stirring sight to see the trucks con- 
stantly arriving and departing, some piles of 
freight growing bigger and bigger with every in- 
coming load, while others as constantly dwindled 
in size. The former piles, Roy soon found, were 
accumulating for other ships, while the decreas- 
ing stacks had been brought on previous days for 
the Lycoming. 

Roy gained thus his first inkling of what was 
meant by the term commerce. Never before had 
he seen such huge stacks of goods assembled in 
one place. It seemed to Roy as though all the 
wares of all the merchants in Central City would 
hardly make so great a pile if boxed and stacked 
together. Yet all these materials were sufficient 
only to fill two or three steamships of moderate 
size. When Roy thought of the miles and miles 
of piers along New York’s water-front, and 
realized that each pier probably contained fully 
as many manufactured products as the Lycom- 
ing's pier, it seemed beyond belief. Then he 
thought of the labor necessary to handle all these 
mountains of goods. On his own pier dozens of 
men were at work. Motor-trucks and horse- 


32 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


drawn drays came and went ceaselessly, hour 
after hour. It was awesome to think about. 

“And this,” said Roy to himself, “ is only one 
of scores and scores of piers. And New York is 
only one of America’s seaports. Then there are 
all the railway stations and freight depots. My 
goodness ! Think how many hands it must take 
to move all the stuff ” 

Roy stopped in sheer inability to comprehend 
the vista of American industry he had opened for 
himself. 

“ Well,” he muttered after a time, “ I see one 
thing. The whole country is united in a great 
business. If any part of that business stops it 
affects all the rest. Suppose all the boats along 
this river couldn’t make their trips on time. The 
piers would fill up so they would hold no more. 
That would throw the truckmen out of work. 
Shipments from the mills would have to stop. 
Railroad crews would lose their jobs and the 
mills would shut down. That would be an awful 
calamity.” 

The idea was so appalling that Roy paused to 
ponder over it. “I see one thing clearly enough,” 
he said to himself at last. “ Everybody every- 
where has to do his part if the whole business is 
to run right. Our job is to sail the Lycoming 
safely and right on the minute. Maybe I won’t 


THE SECRET OP SUCCESS 


33 


be with her long, but as long as I am with her 
I’m going to do my best to keep her safe and 
right on the dot. That’s my job all right.” 

It was. And if Roy had been a bit older, he 
would have known that it was exactly the way to 
make good with Captain Lansford in particular 
and the world in general. Without realizing it, 
Roy had set forth the fundamental rule of suc- 
cess — to do with your might what your hands 
find to do. 

When Roy had tired of watching the toiling 
stevedores, he strolled up the pier and out to the 
street. 


CHAPTER III 


roy’s first fire 

S O engrossed in the life about him was Roy 
that for the moment he forgot all about his 
troubles. On the street he encountered again the 
multitudinous traffic that had so depressed him 
upon his arrival in the city. But here it seemed 
to go at a slower pace. There were more heavily 
laden drays and fewer rushing motor-cars. 
Somehow the atmosphere of the “ farm/’ with its 
hard toiling drivers and signs of honest industry 
seemed different from the cold and callous air 
of Seventh Avenue and of Broadway. At any 
rate, Roy felt different. 

Probably that was because he had made the 
plunge. Even if his captain was not what Roy 
had hoped and expected, the ordeal of meeting 
him was over. Furthermore, Roy was now on 
his mettle. Unconsciously he was reacting from 
the captain’s contemptuous attitude. Like any 
lad of spirit, his pride was hurt and his sense of 
justice outraged. His captain had condemned 
him without trial. Roy was determined to prove 
*34 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


35 


that he merited his commander’s fullest confi- 
dence rather than his contempt. 

So now he walked along, holding himself 
proudly erect in his new uniform, his head up, 
his heart singing. In fact it could not have been 
otherwise; for, trouble or no trouble, he had at 
last reached the place every boy of spirits longs 
for: he had a job. He had made a start in real 
life. 

The pier of the Confederated Steamship Lines 
was not far from the foot of Manhattan Island. 
Instinctively Roy turned his footsteps southward 
toward the Battery, that little strip of green that 
fronts the upper bay and that tips the end of the 
island like the cap on a shoe. Often during the 
search for the secret wireless, Roy had passed 
through this tiny park on his way to the Staten 
Island ferry, just to one side. But he had never 
really had time to look about. He decided that 
now he would explore a bit. Like any other 
wide-awake lad, Roy wanted to see and know all 
that he possibly could. 

“ I’ll look about the lower end of the island,” 
said Roy to himself. “ Maybe I’ll find some- 
thing of interest.” 

Roy was right, but he had small notion of how 
much he would find that was interesting. The 
park was not unlike a half moon in shape. Paved 


36 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


walks, lined with benches, led hither and thither 
between the stretches of greensward, and trees 
and bushes beautified and shaded the grounds. 
A lively breeze was coining off the water, and 
this was grateful: for the day was a hot one in 
late June. 

Roy made his way directly through the little 
park to the water-front. A low sea-wall, built 
of great blocks of granite, formed the very end 
of the island. Along this sea-wall ran a wide 
promenade of asphalt, with benches on the land- 
ward side. The sweeping wind was churning the 
bay into whitecaps, and these came slap! slap! 
against the sea-wall, throwing showers of water 
high into the air and drenching the promenade. 
Even the benches on the landward side of the 
broad walk were soaked by the driving spray. 

But the thing that took Roy’s eye was the 
harbor. Six miles away, as the crow flies, rose 
the hills of Staten Island, where he and his fel- 
lows had watched so long for the German spies. 
Far to the right were the low shores of New Jer- 
sey, almost hidden in the smoke pall of the cities 
there bordering the bay. In that direction, too, 
loomed the Goddess of Liberty, symbol of all 
that the word America means to the world — the 
gigantic goddess whose high-held torch, flam- 
ing through the midnight darkness, shows the 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


37 


anxious mariner his way through the murky wa- 
ters of the harbor. To the left were the shores 
of Brooklyn and the cliffs of Bay Ridge. While 
near at hand and almost in front of the little park 
lay Governor’s Island, with its antiquated stone 
fort, its barracks, and all the other buildings 
necessary in a military post. For Governor’s 
Island is the army headquarters for the Depart- 
ment of the East. 

The miles of water, now tossing turbulently 
and capped with white, were alive with shipping. 
One of the great municipal ferry-boats, starting 
for St. George, was tossing the spray to right and 
left as she breasted the waves. Tugs, seemingly 
without number, were puffing and bustling about, 
mostly with great barges or lighters on either side 
of them, like men carrying huge boxes under each 
arm. Some of these barges were car floats, with 
strings of freight-cars on their decks. Some were 
huge, enclosed lighters, built like dry-goods 
boxes, and towering so high in air as fairly to 
hide the tugs that were propelling them. A 
string of twenty barges, like a twenty -horse team, 
with ten couples, two abreast and drawn by twin 
tugs far ahead of them, was coming down the 
Hudson. Heavily laden freighters of one sort 
or another were riding deep in the swelling 
waves. One or two sailing vessels, beating their 


38 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

way across the harbor, were heeling far over un- 
der the sharp wind. A motor-boat was scooting 
across the end of the island, and Roy even saw a 
venturesome Battery boatman riding the waves 
in a rowboat, at times standing out boldly on the 
crest of a wave and again almost lost to sight in 
the trough. But the sight that caught Roy’s eye 
and thrilled his heart was an incoming ocean 
liner, her high decks crowded with a multitude of 
expectant folks. Many of those folks were men 
who had come to New York, like himself, to seek 
their fortunes. But they had come from far 
across the seas. They were strangers in a strange 
land. Roy wondered how they felt. 

“ If those fellows come here and succeed,” 
smiled Roy to himself, as he watched the ship 
ride majestically by, “ I’d be a poor pill if I 
couldn’t make good, wouldn’t I? Why, a lot of 
them can’t speak English, and they’ve never even 
been to school. I’ll make that captain of mine 
take back what he said.” 

Poor Roy ! If he could have seen all the diffi- 
culties ahead of him, he would not have smiled 
so confidently. But he could not, and presently 
he turned away from the harbor, still light- 
hearted, to see what further things of interest he 
could discover. 

At that instant a bell clanged. Close at hand, 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


39 


and directly on the water-front, Roy had noticed 
a low structure with a little tower. But he had 
been so engrossed with the stirring spectacle of 
the harbor craft that he had paid scant attention 
to the building or the narrow, low craft moored 
to the pier in front of the building. He judged 
that this bell, which was still striking sharply, 
must be in this building. Curious to know what 
the bell signified, Roy turned sharply about. 
He was just in time to see a number of men in 
dark blue uniforms rush from the building, race 
across the narrow wharf, and leap into the little 
boat. The hawsers were cast off and in a sec- 
ond’s time the little craft was shooting swiftly 
from her pier. 

“ I never saw anything like that before,” said 
Roy to himself. “ I wonder what that can be.” 

He ran over to the little house, and on its front 
were the words “Fire Department — City of New 
York.” 

“ By George ! ” muttered Roy. “ Those fellows 
are firemen and that is one of those fire-boats I’ve 
read about.” 

He ran around to the seaward side of the build- 
ing and took a good look at the little steamer that 
was plunging through the waves at a rapid rate. 
She was long, low, narrow, and decked over in 
the centre somewhat like a low lighter. She re- 


40 


THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


sembled a tug more than anything else, yet she 
was unlike any tug Roy had ever seen. Fore 
and aft and amidships, Roy saw long, glistening 
brass nozzles permanently mounted on the super- 
structure and he knew that the boat’s engines 
would suck up the harbor water and shoot it 
through these nozzles with terrific force. 

How he wished he could be aboard of her. 
How he would like to help fight the fire. He 
wondered where it could be. The little boat was 
heading straight for the Brooklyn shore. There 
Roy saw smoke rolling upward in great clouds 
from a pier shed. The distance was so great 
that Roy could not see distinctly, but he was sure 
that tugs were trying to pull a great steamship 
from her berth beside the burning pier. Even as 
he watched, flames burst from the shed. They 
swept outward in great sheets as they were 
fanned by the draughts within the shed. To Roy 
it seemed as though the flames were fairly lick- 
ing the helpless liner. 

“Will they get her away in time? ” Roy asked 
himself, and his heart almost stood still as he 
watched the struggle. It seemed to him that the 
great ship was moving, but he could not be sure. 
Intently he watched. After a few minutes he 
was certain that the distance between the pier 
and the ship was growing greater. But it was 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


41 


still so small that the flames blew about the boat 
like clouds of fire, and Roy knew that blazing 
embers must be fairly raining on the ship’s 
decks. 

So fascinated was he by the struggle that he 
completely forgot the little fire-boat until sud- 
denly it shot into his field of vision. It steamed 
directly between the endangered ship, from which 
Roy could now see puffs of smoke arising, and 
the blazing pier. In another instant Roy saw 
great columns of water shoot from the fire-boat’s 
nozzles and fall in drenching torrents on the help- 
less liner. Gradually the tugs pushed the huge 
craft farther and farther from the shore. The 
fire-boat stood alongside and hurled thousands 
of gallons of water over her, until the last vestige 
of smoke disappeared from the big ship. Then 
the fire-boat steamed close to the pier, which was 
now a roaring bonfire, and played its streams 
steadily into the flames. 

Roy heaved a sigh of relief. “ They saved 
her,” he said to himself. “ They saved her. But 
suppose there had been no fire-boat. The land 
engines couldn’t have helped her a bit. She’d 
have burned to the water’s edge. That would 
have been terrible.” 

It came to Roy that a fire at sea was a million 
times worse than a conflagration like the one he 


42 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

was watching. “ Those people over there,” he 
muttered, as he looked at the rescued ship, “could 
have gotten away even if the ship had burned. 
The tugs would have taken them off. But if a 
ship ever got afire on the ocean the people aboard 
wouldn’t have one chance in a thousand.” 

Suddenly a great light leaped into his eyes. 
“ Yes, they would,” he corrected himself. “And 
that chance would be the wireless. It could bring 
help to a ship at sea just as surely as that fire 
gong brought the fire-boat.” 

On his face came a look of deepest determina- 
tion. “ If ever anything like that happens on 
the Lycoming ” he muttered. 

But the sentence went unfinished. Again the 
gong in the fire-house clanged its warning. It 
was another alarm. Hardly had it sounded be- 
fore a whistle shrieked long and sharply at the 
western end of the Battery. Everywhere whistles 
were tooting, as vessels exchanged signals with 
one another in the crowded harbor; but this 
whistle was so insistent, so unlike the tooting 
signals all about him, that Roy turned to dis- 
cover what could have made it. He was just in 
time to see a little steamer poke her nose out from 
behind the pier at the western end of the prome- 
nade. Sharply the craft turned eastward and 
in another moment was speeding past Roy al- 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


43 


most in the path the fire-boat had taken. The 
boat was a small, shapely craft that looked more 
like a private yacht than anything else. What 
instantly caught Roy’s eye were the wireless 
antennee strung above the boat. 

Roy’s eyes sparkled. “ That’s the police boat 
Patrol ” he thought. “ She’s going to the fire.” 
And his mind went back to the night when he and 
his companions had raced up the East River on 
that same little craft in their search for the secret 
wireless. 

For a long time Roy stood looking at the little 
police boat as she fought her way through the 
swirling current, but actually he saw nothing. 
He was lost in thought. Then a passer-by caught 
his attention. Scores of persons had gone by 
while Roy was watching the fire, yet he had paid 
no heed to any of them. But the instant his eye 
rested on this man Roy felt attracted to him. 

The stranger was somewhat stout and his face 
was tanned a deep brown, as though he had been 
exposed to wind and weather. He wore a well- 
fitting suit of yachting flannels and a yachting 
cap of blue was set rather rakishly on his head. 
Roy instantly decided that the stranger must be 
a seafaring man. But what attracted Roy to 
the man was the latter’s jolly, friendly expression. 
He fairly exuded good nature. Roy felt that he 


44 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

would like to know the man. The stranger, how- 
ever, hardly noticed Roy, but walked rapidly 
along the promenade, with a step that was won- 
derfully light and quick for a man of his build. 
Roy knew that it was impolite to stare at people, 
but he was so drawn to this passer-by that he 
couldn’t resist the temptation to turn around and 
watch him. In another second he was glad he 
had done so. 

A great wave crashed against the sea-wall and 
showered both Roy and the stranger with spray. 
Roy was annoyed at getting his new uniform wet. 
The stranger only laughed, though he was far 
wetter than Roy. From a side pocket of his coat 
he drew a white handkerchief and wiped the spray 
from his face. With the handkerchief he pulled 
out a letter. He did not notice it, and in a sec- 
ond the wind whirled it away through the park. 

“ Wait a minute,” shouted Roy. “ You lost a 
letter.” And he dashed across the green after 
the flying envelope. His voice was drowned in 
the babel of sounds and the stranger went on his 
way unheeding. 

Roy pursued the elusive paper almost to 
Broadway before he managed to clutch it. Then 
he turned and dashed back across the park. The 
stranger had disappeared, but Roy knew that he 
could single the man out because of his white 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


45 


clothes. So he ran on down the promenade in 
the direction the stranger had taken. But he 
could find him nowhere. Roy reached the west- 
ern end of the promenade and looked up West 
Street. The man was nowhere in sight. 

“ He couldn’t have gone much farther than 
this,” reasoned Roy. “ Probably he has gone 
into some building. lie might have gone into 
the harbor police station. I’ll look there for 
him.” And Roy turned toward the building on 
the pier from beside which the Patrol had 
emerged. 

He pushed open the door and entered the Har- 
bor A Station. A lieutenant of police sat be- 
hind a big desk and on the floor before him was 
the man Roy was searching for. But the man’s 
expression had changed greatly. He looked 
troubled and worried. 

“ I beg your pardon,” said Roy, stepping to- 
ward the stranger, “ but this letter belongs to 
you. It came out of your pocket when you 
pulled your handkerchief out and the wind blew 
it away. I shouted at you to wait, but I suppose 
. you didn’t hear me. I had to chase it nearly to 
Broadway and when I got back you had gone. 
I’m glad I found you.” 

“ By George, youngster!” said the man, grasp- 
ing the letter eagerly. “You aren’t half as glad 


46 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

as I am. That’s a mighty important letter. I 
discovered when I replaced my handkerchief that 
it was missing, and I stepped in here to report the 
loss. I thought I had been robbed.” 

He looked the letter over critically to make 
sure it was all right. “ You’ve done me a mighty 
good turn, youngster,” he said. “ What do I 
owe you? ” 

Roy drew back, frowning. “ Nothing, sir,” 
he said. “ I didn’t chase your letter for money.” 

The man looked sharply at Roy. “Then what 
did you do it for? ” he demanded. 

Roy was rather nonplused. 4 4 Why, why — 
there wasn’t anything else to do,” he stammered. 
44 You lost your letter; nobody else saw you lose 
it; and so there wasn’t anything else to do.” 

The stranger laughed uproariously. Roy felt 
almost hurt. His face must have betrayed the 
fact, for suddenly the stranger checked his laugh. 
44 You’re a fine lad,” he said. 44 A fine lad. And 
it’s plain as the Wool worth Building that you 
don’t belong in this town.” 

Roy was astonished. 44 1 don’t,” he assented, 
44 but how did you know it? ” 

Again the man burst into laughter. 44 Listen 
to that, Lieutenant,” he chuckled. 44 Listen to 
that.” 

Then, turning to Roy, he said, 44 Where do you 


ROY’S FIRST FIRE 


47 


come from, lad? I see by your uniform that 
you’re a wireless man.” 

Roy glowed with pride. “ My home is in 
Pennsylvania,” he replied. “ I’m the wireless 
man on the Confederated liner Lycoming ." 

“ The deuce you are! ” said the man. “ The 
deuce you are!” And his eyes fairly danced. 
Then he added, with a chuckle, “ Have you met 
Captain Lansford yet? ” 

Roy’s sober expression was answer enough for 
the stranger. He burst into another hearty 
laugh. Then he said, “ See here, lad. Don’t 
you pay any attention to Captain Lansford. His 
bark is worse than his bite. You do your duty 
and you’ll make good with him.” 

“ Do you know him? ” asked Roy incredu- 
lously. 

“ I should say I do,” rejoined the stranger. 
“ But I must be on my way. I’ve got a lot to 
do.” 

He thanked Roy again for his kindness and 
turned away. But immediately he faced about. 
“ Know anybody in this town? ” he asked, then 
added with a chuckle, “ that is, anybody but Cap- 
tain Lansford? ” 

“ Hardly anybody,” said Roy. 

“ I thought so,” said the stranger. “ What 
are you doing with yourself? ” 


48 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEEATOE 

“ I thought I might find something interesting 
down here,” said Roy. “ I want to see every- 
thing I can while I have the opportunity.” 

“ Good boy,” said the stranger. “ That’s the 
way to get ahead. You’ve come to the right 
place to see things, too. Why, lad, this is one of 
the most interesting places in all America. Yes, 
and in all the world — this neighborhood right 
here. I could talk to you about it for hours, but 
I haven’t time now. Go get yourself a guide- 
book and go over the place thoroughly. You’ll 
never be sorry. If you can’t find one, I’ll lend 
you mine. Good-bye.” 

“ But I may never see you again,” said Roy. 

The man chuckled. “ Oh! yes you will,” he 
smiled. “ I’m going to look you up on the Ly- 
coming. Good-bye.” He held out his hand, 
grasped Roy’s so firmly that he made Roy wince, 
and was off. 

Roy watched him disappear in the crowd. He 
felt as though a great weight had been lifted from 
his shoulders. He was no longer alone in a big 
city. He had a friend. At least, he believed the 
man was going to be his friend, and he was 
glad of it. But suddenly his face grew long 
again. 

“ I forgot to get his name ” muttered Roy, 
“ and I could have had it without asking. All I 


BOY’S FIRST FIRE 


49 


needed to do was to read the address on the en- 
velope. Now I may never see him again.” 

For a minute Roy felt gloomy enough. Then 
he recalled the man’s promise to look him up on 
the Lycoming. “ If he does,” smiled Roy, “ I’ll 
bet a dollar I won’t forget again to find out his 
name. Now I’m going to take his advice and get 
a guide-book. Wonder where I can find one.” 

A policeman was passing. Roy stopped him 
and asked where he could purchase the desired 
volume. The policeman directed him to a near- 
by book shop and in a few minutes Roy was back 
in Battery Park with a little guide-book in his 
hand. 


CHAPTER IV 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 

OW,” thought Roy, as he sought out a 



-L ^ shady bench and sat down, “ if this book 
will tell me, I’m going to find out why this park 
is called Battery Park. I’ve often wondered.” 

He opened his book and, turning to the index, 
readily found where to look for the information. 
Looking on the proper page, he read: “ Battery 
Park and Battery Place take their name from the 
fortification begun in 1693 by Governor Fletcher 
to defend the city. The original battery was a 
line of cannons extending from the foot of Green- 
wich Street to the intersection of Whitehall and 
Water Streets.” 

“ That was a pretty nice row of cannons,” 
thought Roy, glancing up from his book to see 
about where these guns had stood. With the 
geography of the city he was quite familiar, as it 
had been necessary, during the search for the se- 
cret wireless, for Roy and his companions to ac- 
quaint themselves with the city in order that they 
could travel surely and speedily. After he had 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


51 


measured the distance with his eye, he turned 
back to the guide-book and read: “ The land be- 
yond this line was under water until after 1800.” 

At first Roy did not grasp the significance of 
the statement. But when he read that the origi- 
nal shore-line of the lower end of Manhattan 
Island is marked approximately by Greenwich, 
State, and Pearl Streets, he was almost stunned. 

“Why, gee whiz!” he muttered. “That 
means that all this park, which the book says con- 
tains twenty-one acres, and all the ground on 
either side of the lower end of the island for two 
or three blocks inland is made land. Just think 
of that.” In amazement he stared about the lit- 
tle park, then looked at the two broad blocks be- 
tween Greenwich Street and “ the farm.” 
“ Made land,” he thought, “ every inch of it. 
Why, they must have made hundreds of acres. I 
wonder where they got all the stuff to fill in with. 
What a lot of work it must have been! And 
what a pile of money it must have cost. But I 
suppose it’s worth millions and millions of dollars 
now.” 

He picked up his guide-book again. “ The 
land under water,” he read, “ was ceded to Con- 
gress by the city for the erection of a fort to de- 
fend the city. The fort, about three hundred 
feet from shore, later called Castle Clinton, was 


52 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

built on a mole and connected with the city by a 
bridge. In 1822 it was ceded to the state; in 
1823 it was leased to the city, and in 1824 it was 
leased as an amusement hall, known as Castle 
Garden. It was roofed over and was the scene 
of Lafayette’s reception in 1824. In 1835 Sam- 
uel F. B. Morse here first demonstrated the pos- 
sibility of controlling an electric current. Here 
Jenny Lind sang in 1850, and in 1851 Kossuth 
was received here. In 1855 it became the Immi- 
gration Bureau. In 1891 Battery Park was filled 
in, and in 1896 the building was opened as an 
aquarium.” 

“Gee whiz!” smiled Roy happily. “I’ve 
often heard of the aquarium. It contains one of 
the most famous collections of fishes in the world. 
But I never dreamed that it was such a famous 
old place as that. I’m going to see that, sure. 
It must be that queer, circular brownstone build- 
ing near the harbor police station.” 

Roy’s guess proved to be correct, as the sign 
above the entrance told him. But before enter- 
ing he walked completely around the structure. 

“ Makes you think of a stone bandbox,” said 
Roy, with a chuckle. “ It’s so much like that 
funny building on Governor’s Island that they 
look like twins. I’ll bet that was another fort.” 

Roy was right again. His guide-book said 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


53 


that the old fort on Governor’s Island was known 
as Castle William. 

In walking around the aquarium Roy discov- 
ered at intervals what looked like window spaces 
that had been walled in. But he knew that they 
must have been the embrasures for the thirty 
heavy guns with which the fort was armed. 

When he had completed the circuit of the 
building, Roy went inside. In the centre of the 
floor was a tiled tank, like the hub of a wheel, 
while strung around the wall, like the tire of the 
wheel, were tanks and tanks of fishes, so arranged 
that the light shone through the tanks, perfectly 
illuminating everything in them. 

Roy went directly to the circular tank in the 
centre. It contained a great sea-cow or manatee. 
Often Roy had read of these curious creatures 
and he knew at once what the thing was. It was 
as big as a fat pig and had a broad oval tail, with 
fore limbs in the form of flippers. The animal 
reminded Roy of the performing seals he had 
seen at a circus. He had read that at night the 
manatee is said to come out of the water. He 
wondered if it were true. He was particularly 
interested in this fish for he knew that it lived in 
the southern waters he would soon be sailing. 
He hoped that he would see some of them in the 
sea. 


54 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


In the tank with the manatee were some floun- 
ders. Roy was amazed to note that they were 
almost white, like the sand in the bottom of the 
tank. He had often seen flounders, but never 
any of that color. It puzzled him until he re- 
membered that the flounder, like many another 
creature, possesses the power of protective color- 
ing. Roy wondered how it was possible for any 
creature to change its color to match its environ- 
ment. But, like many a wiser person, he pon- 
dered over the matter in vain. 

When he had grown tired of watching the sea- 
cow and the white flounders, he walked over to 
the ring of tanks, and, beginning at one side of 
the entrance, walked slowly around the building. 
Never had Roy dreamed that there could be such 
fishes as he now beheld. Not only did he find the 
familiar fishes of our own waters that he had 
caught or seen for sale in the markets, but also he 
saw strange and curious creatures from every 
part of the world. What astonished him most 
was the vivid coloring of some of the fishes from 
the tropics. Roy had often seen parrots and 
other tropic birds, and he knew that the birds in 
these hot regions were more brilliant in hue than 
our own birds. But he had never dreamed that 
the fishes would likewise be gaily colored. Yet 
here he beheld fishes of red and green and blue 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


65 


and yellow, as brilliant in color as any parrot or 
parrakeet he had ever seen. 

When he had become tired of looking at fishes, 
Roy left the aquarium and again sought a shady 
seat. As he opened his book his glance rested on 
the words “ Fort Amsterdam.” 

“ I wonder how many forts those old fellows 
had, anyway,” thought Roy. “ I’ll just see what 
it says about Fort Amsterdam,” and he began to 
read: “ Before the first great fire visited Man- 
hattan in 1626, the lines of a fort were laid out, 
occupying the site of the present Custom House, 
the work being completed between 1633 and 
1635. Fort Amsterdam, as the work was called, 
was built of earth and stone and had four bas- 
tions. It rose proudly above the group of small 
houses and became the distinctive feature of New 
Amsterdam. The main gate of the fort opened 
on the present Bowling Green, which from the 
earliest days was maintained as an open space. 
It was, in fact, the heart of the Dutch town. It 
provided a playground for the children, a site for 
the May-pole around which the youths and 
maidens danced, a parade-ground for the soldiers, 
and a place for the market and annual cattle 
show. Here also were held those great meetings 
with the Indians, at which treaties were arranged 
and the pipe of peace was smoked. In 1732 it 


56 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


was leased to three citizens who lived close at 
hand, for one peppercorn a year, as a private 
bowling ground, from which fact it takes its 
name.” 

“ Think of that,” mused Roy. “ They used to 
smoke the peace-pipe there. Now the place is 
surrounded by sky-scrapers, trolley-cars run past 
it, subway trains rumble underneath it, and ele- 
vated trains thunder by within a few feet. I 
wonder what those Indians would think if they 
could ever come back to earth and see Manhattan 
Island now.” Roy chuckled at the idea, but 
when he thought of the Dutch cattle shows he 
laughed outright. “ Wouldn’t a herd of cattle 
tethered in Bowling Green create a sensation 
now? ” he said to himself. “ I must take a look 
at that place.” 

He jumped up and crossed the park, heading 
for the Custom-house at the eastern end. This 
was a huge building, some seven stories in height, 
that covered an entire block. Roy walked around 
it, pausing finally to admire the groups of beau- 
tiful statuary that adorned the front of the build- 
ing. For a long time Roy gazed at the Custom- 
house, and the longer he looked the more beauti- 
ful he thought the building was. 

He had often seen it on his previous visit, but 
he had been so preoccupied then that he had 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


57 


given little thought to it or any other building. 
Though he had learned well the geography of the 
city, in order that he might get about with facil- 
ity, he had learned nothing of the history or 
meaning of New York. Now that he was look- 
ing at things from a new point of view, it seemed 
as though he had never seen them before. It was 
so with Bowling Green. Often he had passed 
the little fenced-in oval of grass, with its few 
benches and a tree or two, but it had been to him 
only a tiny bit of green. It had held no meaning. 
Now in fancy he saw the old fort with its little 
parade-ground, its gates open, and the Dutch 
soldiers marching out to drill. He pictured the 
boys and girls frolicking about the May-pole. 
And when he thought of the cattle shows, he 
laughed again. 

Roy went into the tiny oval and sat down on a 
bench to think this all over. “ It was almost 
three hundred years ago,” he mused, “ when they 
built that old fort. That’s a long time. It’s so 
long that I suppose there isn’t a thing left that 
was standing in those days. That’s funny, too, 
for I’ve read that in England there are buildings 
hundreds and hundreds of years old. I wonder 
what’s the oldest thing here.” 

Roy looked about but could find nothing that 
he thought seemed very old. “ That’s the queer 


58 


THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


thing about New York,” was his comment. 
“ There never has been much in it that is old. 
They keep tearing things down and building new 
things in their places all the time. No wonder 
they say that New York will never be finished. 
There isn’t anything old here.” 

But Roy was mistaken, and when he fell to 
reading in his guide-book again he discovered it. 
For the fence that surrounded the little oval was 
almost a century and a half old. “ This fence,” 
Roy read, “ was imported from England in 1771 
to enclose a lead equestrian statue of George III. 
On the posts were the royal insignia. In 1776, 
during the Revolution, the lead statue was 
dragged down and moulded into bullets by the 
colonists, and the royal insignia were knocked 
from the tops of the posts. The fractures can 
still be seen.” 

Roy jumped up and ran over to the fence. 
Sure enough, each post showed plainly that its 
top had been broken off. Roy was amazed. 

“ To think that this fence was standing at the 
time of the Revolution,” he thought. “ Why, 
Washington must have been here often and he 
probably looked at these broken posts just as I 
have.” 

Doubtless Washington did see the posts. Cer- 
tainly he must have been in the Bowling Green 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


59 


many a time. Only a short distance from the 
Bowling Green, in Fraunces Tavern, at Broad 
and Pearl Streets, Washington said farewell to 
forty-four of his officers at the close of the Revo- 
lution, a fact that Roy soon discovered from his 
guide-book. Immediately he hurried away to 
take a look at this beautiful old building of colo- 
nial design, made of yellow Dutch bricks. Roy 
admired it very much. A bronze tablet on 
the corner of the building stated that it was 
now the property of the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion. 

“Good!” thought Roy. “Now I know of 
two things in New York that haven’t been torn 
down. And I don’t believe they ever will 
be.” 

When Roy looked further in his book he found 
there were many, many old things remaining, so 
many that he could not hope to see them in one 
day, and particularly not on this day, for it was 
already supper time. But there was one place 
that Roy was eager to see. The guide-book said 
that a tablet on the building at 41 Broadway 
marked the site of the first houses or huts erected 
on Manhattan Island by white men. They were 
built about 1613. 

“ I’ll j.ust walk up Broadway,” thought Roy, 
“ and see that tablet. Then I’ll go on up Broad- 


60 


THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


way, get something to eat, and go back to the 
Lycoming after supper. I suppose I could get 
a meal aboard the Lycoming , but likely I’d have 
to eat with Captain Lansford.” 

Roy walked slowly up the longest street in the 
world; for Broadway, extending far beyond the 
limits of New York City, and passing through 
one community after another, is still Broadway 
half a hundred miles from Bowling Green. He 
could hardly have gone otherwise than slowly if 
he had tried, for it was the evening rush hour. 
From every doorway people were pouring out 
into the street. The sidewalks were jammed. 
The roadway was so crowded with busses and 
trucks and drays and trolley-cars and automo- 
biles that it was next to impossible to cross it. 
Bells were clanging, automobile horns honking, 
whistles blowing. Iron-shod hoofs rang on the 
pavements. Leather shoes scraped and shuffled 
on the stone sidewalks. And all these noises 
combined in one ceaseless roar that beat on the 
ear incessantly. But what most impressed Roy 
was the unceasing rush of people. Apparently 
there was no end to them. Doorways of high 
buildings fairly vomited human beings. But no 
matter how many persons issued forth, more re- 
mained to come out. Time and time again Roy 
had seen this evening rush for home, and always 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


61 


he was impressed by it. It seemed impossible 
that there could be so many workers in the city. 
But when he remembered that some of the tall 
buildings about him held as many as ten thousand 
persons, — almost as many people as there were 
in the whole town of Central City — the rush did 
not seem so incomprehensible. Every time Roy 
looked at the crowd he thought of the ceaseless 
flow of a rushing stream. 

Roy paused when he reached 41 Broadway and 
read the tablet on the wall. But he passed on 
quickly, for the crowded sidewalk was a poor 
place to loiter, and the tumult of traffic drove 
from his head all thoughts of those sleepy old 
days when New York was New Amsterdam. 

Roy was now in the very heart of that deep 
canyon formed by the huge buildings in lower 
Broadway. He knew that nowhere else in the 
world could one find structures like them. There 
they towered, ten, twenty, thirty, forty stories 
high, until it made one almost dizzy to look up at 
them. Like the traffic in the street, Roy had 
seen them often; but now, as always when he saw 
them near at hand, he marveled at these huge 
structures man had reared two and even three 
times as high as Niagara, while the gigantic 
Woolworth Building, more than four and a half 
times the height of Niagara, towered a full seven 


62 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

hundred and fifty feet above the sidewalk. As 
Roy looked up Broadway at it now he could not 
help feeling awed. 

“ Just think,” he muttered, “ it’s two hundred 
feet longer than the Lycoming ” 

Just then Roy came to a quick lunch room. 
His eye brightened as he caught sight of it, for 
he had had nothing to eat for several hours, and 
the salt breeze in the park had whetted an appe- 
tite already keen. 

Roy entered and ate generously. He took his 
time about it. Now that he was relaxed, he 
found that he was really tired. When he came 
out of the restaurant he was amazed at the altered 
appearance of the street. The crowd had disap- 
peared. Gone was the multitude of trucks, drays 
and motor-cars. A few belated pedestrians were 
hurrying along the street, and an occasional 
wagon rattled by. But now every hoof beat and 
every creak of wheel or wagon-body echoed 
through the deserted thoroughfare, flung back by 
the empty hives of buildings that had so recently 
swarmed with life. More than ever Roy thought 
of that rushing throng of humanity as a surging 
tide; but now it seemed as though a sluice-gate 
had somewhere been closed and only a few tiny 
trickles were seeping through. 

But somehow the deserted thoroughfare 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


63 


seemed almost more attractive to Roy than it did 
when it was seething with traffic. There was so 
much he wanted to think about, so many things 
on every hand that demanded consideration ; and 
connected thought was almost impossible when 
so many persons were rushing by and such a con- 
fusing babel of sound smote on the ear. So now 
he sauntered slowly up Broadway, thinking about 
his own situation, and pondering over the inter- 
esting things he had seen. 

One by one lights shone forth in the great 
structures about him — lights so high that they 
seemed like yellow stars in the sky. Slowly the 
outlines of the individual buildings grew dim and 
uncertain as darkness came on. In place of the 
hulking massive structures of stone he had been 
looking at by daylight, Roy now found himself 
gazing at what seemed like fairy towers of twin- 
kling, elfin lights. It was wonderful beyond de- 
scription. But when Roy looked at the Singer 
and Woolworth Buildings, with their beautiful 
towers of ornate stone rising hundreds of feet 
above him and brilliantly illuminated by hidden 
lights, he was sure that he had never in his life 
seen anything so beautiful and so wonderful. He 
could find no words to express his delight. But 
he was conscious that the feeling of awe which 
had gripped him as he stared at these same col- 


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THE Y0U1TG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


ored shafts by day was gone. Now he felt only 
a sense of charm and delight. 

He continued up Broadway until he came to 
the seething centre of life about City Hall. 
When he looked across the little park at the en- 
trance of the Brooklyn bridge, and saw the bus- 
tling activity of Park Row, he could scarce be- 
lieve that one short block could make so great a 
difference. Roy did not realize that Park Row 
was the heart of the night life of lower New 
York. Centred about it were the homes of many 
of New York’s great newspapers, where scores of 
workers had just gone on duty and where the 
“day’s work ” was only fairly getting under 
way. 

Roy made his way to the entrance of the 
Brooklyn bridge and watched in wonder the end- 
less strings of trolley-cars swing round the ter- 
minal loops, the streams of pedestrians still pour- 
ing homeward toward Brooklyn, the line of carts 
still rattling up the cobbled roadway to the 
bridge. When he expressed his wonder to the 
bridge policeman at the information booth, that 
individual only smiled. For years he had 
watched the better part of a million people daily 
swarm to and fro across the bridge: and the tail- 
end of the evening rush, that seemed so impress- 
ive to Roy, was commonplace enough to him. 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


65 


After a time the scene palled on Roy, and he 
started for home — his new home on the Lycom- 
ing . Knowing well the city’s geography, he did 
not retrace his steps but struck off directly for 
the western water-front, passing through a maze 
of deserted, dimly lighted, little streets that were 
flanked by dingy buildings of five or six stories. 
The contrast with the blazing centre of life he had 
just left was as striking as some sudden shift in 
scenes on the stage of a theatre. In the quiet 
and gloom Roy had abundant opportunity for 
thought. His mind returned to the problem 
immediately before him: how he should make 
good with Captain Lansford. 

So engrossed in this problem did Roy become 
that he did not hear a stealthy footstep behind 
him, and was startled when a form appeared be- 
side him, and a tough-looking fellow demanded a 
match. 

“ Sorry,” said Roy, “ but I have no matches 
with me.” 

“ Then give me ten cents for beer,” growled 
the fellow in a still rougher tone. 

“ I have no money to give you,” said Roy 
firmly. 

“You haven’t, eh?” sneered the fellow. 
“ Then I’ll just take it.” 

He grasped Roy’s shoulder, but Roy wrenched 


66 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

loose from him and drew back. Quick as a flash 
the ruffian shot his fist at Roy’s face. Taken un- 
awares, Roy could not dodge the blow, and it 
landed full on his left eye. For an instant he 
was almost stunned and he could see nothing. 
Instinctively he drew back and raised his fists to 
protect himself. Roy knew that he was no match 
for this hulking fellow, who was almost as large 
as Captain Lansford, but he meant to fight to the 
limit to save the few dollars he possessed. Roy 
believed that the best defense was an offensive, 
and though he could hardly see the man before 
him, he rushed at him and struck out with all his 
might. The fellow was as much surprised as 
Roy had been an instant before and the blow 
struck him squarely on the chin. He had been 
coming toward Roy and the impact was terrific. 
It bent his head straight back and the fellow 
dropped to his knees. Roy should have finished 
him with another blow, but he could not hit a man 
who was down, even though the man had at- 
tempted to rob him. He stepped past the man 
and walked rapidly toward the water-front, fre- 
quently glancing over his shoulder lest he be pur- 
sued. But the surprised robber had had enough. 
When he was able to get to his feet he slunk 
quickly out of sight. 

“ I got out of that pretty lucky,” thought Roy. 


IN LOWER NEW YORK 


67 


“ I’d rather have a black eye any time than lose 
my money.” 

But Roy almost changed his mind when he 
reached the ship, for the first person he met was 
Captain Lansford. By this time Roy’s eye was 
both swollen and discolored, and his face was 
flushed with excitement. As luck would have it, 
he met the captain in the full glare of a bright 
light. 

“ So you’ve been drinking, eh? ” roared the 
captain. “ Don’t you know that drinking is for- 
bidden on this ship? ” 

“ I haven’t been drinking, sir,” said Roy. 
“ Some one ” 

Captain Lansford cut him short. “ Don’t 
make it worse by lying about it,” he said 
harshly. 

Roy’s flushed face grew redder still with indig- 
nation. “ You have no right to say that,” he 
declared hotly. 

“ Do you dare question my authority on my 
own ship? ” thundered the irate commander. 

“ I don’t care whether you are captain of this 
ship or President of the United States,” said Roy 
boldly. “ You shall not accuse me of either 
drinking or lying. I never touched a drop of 
liquor in my life and I am not a liar.” 

“ If you haven’t been drinking,” demanded 


68 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

Captain Lansford, “ how did you get that black 
eye? ” 

“ A man set on me and tried to rob me,” re- 
plied Roy. 

“ And you were sober and you let him hit you 
in the eye? Rah!” 

“ He hit me when I wasn’t expecting it,” ex- 
plained Roy. 

“ And what did you do? Run? Or hand him 
your money? ” 

“ I knocked him down,” said Roy grimly. 

“ It’s likely,” rejoined the captain. “ Now go 
to your quarters and don’t ever let me hear of 
your drinking again.” 

Anger flamed up in Roy’s heart. “ Don’t you 
ever dare to accuse me of drinking again,” he 
cried hotly, taking a step toward his superior and 
looking him straight in the eye. 

“ Go to your quarters,” thundered the captain. 

Roy turned and slowly mounted to the wireless 
house. At every step his heart grew heavier and 
heavier. 

“ A nice mess I’ve made of it,” he sighed, when 
at last he reached the wireless house and threw 
himself down on his couch. “ I’ll never make 
good with the captain now, never.” 


CHAPTER V 


A FRIEND IN NEED 

I T was characteristic of Roy that he did not 
spend much time bewailing his misfortune. “ If 
the captain objects to my looks now,” thought 
he, “ how will he feel to-morrow, when that black 
eye becomes the real thing! Gee! I’ve got to 
do something quick. Let me see. It ought to 
be bathed in warm water and rubbed with butter 
or some other kind of grease. I can get warm 
water here in my room, but I don’t know where 
to get butter. Maybe the cook would give me 
some.” 

Roy jumped to his feet and started down the 
ladder. “ Gee whiz ! ” he muttered. “ I wonder 
where the cook is? ” For the Lycoming was still 
a mystery to Roy. 

He went down to a lower deck, then stood ir- 
resolute. Not a soul was in sight, the ship was 
dimly lighted, and Roy did not know which way 
to turn. Suddenly the door of the purser’s office 
was flung open and a flood of yellow light 
69 


70 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


streamed out. Roy stepped quickly to the door 
and knocked against the jamb. 

“ Come in,” said a hearty voice, which Roy was 
certain he had heard before. 

Roy entered and found himself face to face 
with the man whose letter he had rescued. He 
was so surprised that for an instant he couldn’t 
say a word. 

“ Hello, youngster,” said the man, as he took 
a quick glance at Roy. “ Glad to see you. Come 
in. J ust let me finish this manifest and I’ll talk 
to you all night.” But when he took a second 
look at Roy, he dropped the sheaf of papers he 
was examining and stepped forward. 

“ Now how the deuce did you get that? ” he 
exclaimed, as he examined Roy’s eye. 

As Roy started to tell him he interrupted, 
“ Never mind how you got it. Let’s get it fixed 
first and talk about it afterward. Come with me, 
youngster.” 

He darted out of his office and into his state- 
room, with Roy close at his heels. Seemingly 
with one motion he set the hot water flowing in 
his wash-bowl and drew from a closet a bottle of 
vaseline. Almost before Roy knew what was 
happening, the man had him in a chair with a 
stinging hot compress over his eye, and another 
ready for application when the first one cooled. 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


71 


The man’s dexterity amazed Roy, who was any- 
thing but clumsy himself. When the compresses 
had done their work, the man began to rub the 
injured flesh about the bruised eye with vaseline. 
Round and round his fingers went, softly but 
firmly pressing the flesh, until Roy wondered if 
the man would ever stop. Finally the massage 
ended and a poultice was quickly made and deftly 
applied. 

“ There,” said the man, stepping back and 
viewing his job critically. “ You’re fixed up as 
good as any ambulance surgeon could have fixed 
you. Now let’s hear how you got that decora- 
tion.” 

“ First, let me thank you for your help,” said 
Roy gratefully. “ I’ll look bad enough as it is, 
but I’d have looked a thousand times worse if you 
hadn’t helped me. I wouldn’t care so much if 
the captain hadn’t seen me.” 

“ Did he, though? And what did he say? ” 

“ He accused me of being drunk, and when I 
tried to explain how I came by a black eye, he 
told me not to make it worse by lying.” 

Roy’s companion chuckled. “ What did you 
tell him? ” he demanded. 

“ I told him he had no right to accuse me of 
either. He nearly took my head off, and de- 
manded to know if I questioned his authority on 


72 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


his own ship. I told him I didn’t care whether 
he was captain of the Lycoming or President of 
the United States, I was neither drunk nor a liar 
and that he had no right to accuse me of being 
either.” 

Roy’s companion slapped his leg in huge de- 
light. “ Boy,” he said, “ you’re made with Cap- 
tain Lansford. You couldn’t have done any- 
thing that would please him more. He loves 
courage and there are mighty few people who 
have enough of it to stand up to him.” 

Roy looked rueful. “ He’ll never forgive 
me,” he said. “ You should have heard him 
order me to my quarters.” 

But Roy’s companion only chuckled. “ Now 
tell me all about your eye,” he said. 

Roy told him how he came by it. Then he 
added, “ I suppose you are the purser, and I’m 
mighty glad. I don’t know how I can ever show 
my gratitude for your kindness, but I thank you 
with all my heart. My name is Roy Mercer.” 

“ Thank you, lad. Thank you,” said the 
purser. “ It’s always a pleasure to help a good 
boy like yourself. My name is Robbins, Prank 
Robbins, and I am the purser. I foresee that we 
shall be very good friends.” 

“ I hope so,” said Roy. “ It won’t be my fault 
if we aren’t. Won’t you come up and see my 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


73 


wireless room? And, by the way, I’ve got some 
crullers my mother gave me. You must try 
them.” 

“God bless the lad!” ejaculated the purser. 
“ Crullers — the kind that mother used to make — 
the real thing — and he wants to share them. To 
be sure, I’ll come. But let me finish that mani- 
fest first. Work before play is the motto on this 
ship.” 

“ I’d bet on that,” thought Roy, “ if Captain 
Lansford had anything to do with it.” 

The purser went to his office and Roy to the 
wireless house. But what a different lad he was 
from the Roy who had left it so short a time be- 
fore. He had found a friend in need; and a 
friend in need is a friend indeed. Now his eyes 
were aglow and his heart beat merrily. He 
looked at his shining instruments as a mother 
views her child. Sitting down at the operating 
table, he adjusted his receivers to his head and 
threw over the switch. 

A babel of sound smote his ears. It was after 
nine o’clock, and at that hour of the night the air 
in Manhattan was as noisy as Broadway during 
the rush hour. Everybody was talking at once, 
including no end of irresponsible amateurs, many 
of whom could send but not read. When they 
jammed, no one could tell them what trouble they 


74 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

were making for everybody else. Roy could 
hear big stations and little talking to one another 
through hundreds of miles of space. Stations 
far to the northward were talking directly over 
Roy’s head, as it were, with stations as far to the 
southward. Inland operators were conversing 
with shore stations, and ocean liners were ex- 
changing messages with operators on land. It 
was as noisy as a five o’clock tea. 

Though it was all familiar to Roy, it was as 
interesting to him as if he were hearing it for the 
first time. High above the multitude of buzzing 
sounds rose the shrill whine of the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard’s rotary spark-gap. Always Roy 
delighted to listen to the clean, clear work of the 
Navy Yard operators. Now he tuned sharply 
and listened. 

“ NAK — NAK — NAK — NAH,” called the 
navy operator. (Annapolis-Brooklyn Navy 
Yard calling.) 

“ NAH — III — GA,” came the reply almost 
at once. (Navy Yard. I’m here. Go ahead.) 

Roy made a wry face as he took down the mes- 
sage that followed. It was in cipher and he 
could not read it. 

But there was plenty that he could read. The 
radio station on the Metropolitan tower was 
shrilly shouting its news to the world. The navy 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


75 


station at Fire Island was talking with a destroyer 
at sea. Cape May was trying to get some ship 
far out in the Atlantic. The New York Herald 
was talking with a ship coming into Boston. Far 
out 4 1 sea the White Star liner Majestic was in- 
quiring whether the Giants or Cincinnati had 
won the day’s ball game. The Hotel Waldorf 
was sending a message for a guest to Philadel- 
phia. 

Suddenly Roy started violently. His own 
call was sounding through the air: “ WNA — 
WNA — WNA — WNG.” 

It was the Tioga calling her sister ship Lycom- 
ing. 

“ WNG — III — GA,” flashed back Roy the 
instant the call ended. 

“ Hello,” came the answer. “ This is Patter- 
son. Who are you? ” 

“ This is Mercer,” answered Roy. 

“ Glad to know you,” flashed back the operator 
on the Tioga . “ Where you from? ” 

“ This is my first job,” said Roy. 

“ Well, you’re right on the job and you send 
well.” 

“ Thanks,” answered Roy. “ Come see me. 
When do you expect to get in? ” 

“ Tuesday evening. Take a message for Lans- 
ford.” 


76 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEEATOE 


Roy took down the message and said good- 
night to Patterson. He made a grimace at the 
thought of again facing “ the old dragon,” as he 
mentally styled his superior. But before he 
could lay aside his receivers he heard Arlington 
preparing to send out the ten o’clock time signal 
and the day’s weather news. 

“’I’ll just take the weather-report,” he thought, 
as he set his watch, “ and give it to Captain Lans- 
ford along with this message.” 

Then the weather signals sounded. Rapidly 
Roy jotted them down: “ USWB — T 02813 — 
DB 04221— H 03622— C 03042— K 00223— 
P 03347.” (Wind off Atlantic Coast — north of 
Sandy Hook moderate northerly winds with fair 
weather — Hatteras to Florida Straits moderate 
northerly and easterly winds. Moderate showers 
Tuesday east Gulf Coast. Fresh to moderately 
strong winds over north portion with rain — mod- 
erate northeast and east winds over south por- 
tion.) 

Rapidly Roy deciphered the code and wrote 
down the despatch, as follows: Nantucket — ba- 
rometer 30.28, wind north, gentle breeze. Dela- 
ware Breakwater — barometer 30.42, wind north- 
east, light air. Cape Hatteras — barometer 30.36, 
wind northeast, light breeze. Key West — ba- 
rometer 30.02, wind northeast, gentle breeze. 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


77 


Pensacola — barometer 30.33, wind southeast, 
moderate gale. 

Carefully Roy wrote out the message from the 
Tioga , and signed it with the Tioga captain’s 
name, making sure that every word was written 
plainly and spelled correctly. “ I won’t give him 
a chance to criticize me,” he muttered. 

Then, after a moment’s consideration, he 
wrote: “ The United States Weather Bureau 
reports the following weather conditions.” And 
he copied down the deciphered message and 
signed his name: “ Mercer.” 

It was the first time Roy had ever signed his 
name as a professional operator and he thrilled 
with pride as he looked at the neatly penned mes- 
sage with his own signature at the bottom. 

But immediately the smile of satisfaction was 
succeeded by a sour look. At that instant his 
door opened and the purser walked in. 

“ Why so glum? ” he demanded. “ Worry- 
ing about your shiner? ” 

“ No,” said Roy. “ I was thinking how much 
fun it will be to take this message to Captain 
Lansford.” 

“ Now see here, lad,” exploded the purser. 
“ You’re not going to take it. Don’t forget 
you’re not a cabin-boy, but remember that you 
rank with the officers. And, anyway, it will be 


78 


THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


just as well to keep away from thq captain for a 
time. He’s used to having everybody kotow to 
him. Just show him you are independent. He 
won’t think any the worse of you for it.” 

“ Come to think of it,” said Roy, “ his orders 
were to go to the wireless house and not to bother 
him.” 

“ Just push this button when you want a stew- 
ard,” said the purser, putting his finger on a 
push-button in the wall that Roy had not pre- 
viously noticed. 

In a few moments a gray-haired negro ap- 
peared at the door. 

“ Sam,” said the purser, “ this is Mr. Mercer, 
our new wireless man. He’s a particular friend 
of mine and I want you to look after him as a 
favor to me. Besides, you want to gain his 
friendship yourself. You can never tell when 
you may need his help. He talks to other ships 
and to folks ashore, with these instruments here. 
If we get into trouble at sea he can summon help, 
even if we are five hundred miles out in the 
ocean.” 

The darky’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. 
“ I done heerd o’ dis yere wireless telefagry, 
Massa Robbins,” he said, “ but I ain’t never seen 
none before. Can he really call help like 
dat? ” 


A FRIEND IN NEED 


79 


“ Indeed he can, Sam, and if we need a police- 
man, he can get one quick.” 

The steward looked at Roy with awe. Roy 
rose and shook hands with him. “ I hope you are 
going to be my friend, Sam,” he said cordially. 

“ ’Deed I is, Mr. Mercer. ’Deed I is, suh,” and 
he bowed himself out with Roy’s message for the 
captain. 

Roy grinned at the purser. “Sounds funny to 
have him call me Mr. Mercer,” he said. “ I sup- 
pose he’ll get over it when he knows me better.” 

“ You’ll never be anything but Mr. Mercer on 
shipboard,” explained the purser. “ As wireless 
man, you are entitled to be called Mr. Mercer, 
and we are particular about such things. But 
I’m going to call you Roy when we’re alone, if 
you don’t mind.” 

With a smile Roy laid aside his wireless instru- 
ments and produced his package of crullers. 

“We must have something to drink with 
these,” said the purser, and he pressed the button 
again. 

Roy looked at him inquiringly. 

“ I never touch anything stronger than coffee,” 
said the purser, “ and if you take my advice, you 
won’t, either.” 

“ I never touched a drop of liquor in my life,” 
said Roy, “ and I’m not going to now.” 


80 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEBATOE 

“ I thought not,” said the purser. “ That’s 
one reason I mean to be your friend. Boys who 
drink aren’t worth bothering with.” 

Presently Sam answered the bell and brought 
them a pot of steaming hot coffee. For a long 
time Boy and the purser sat talking; they ate 
crullers and drank coffee. When Mr. Robbins 
said good-night, Roy was very happy indeed. 
He felt that he had gained a real friend, who 
would help him in difficulty. And, though he did 
not know it, there were many difficulties ahead 
of him. 


CHAPTER VI 


OFF TO SEA 



HANKS to the purser’s kind and skilful 


A ministrations, Roy’s eye was not long in re- 
turning to an almost normal appearance. But 
Roy had little time to worry over his looks. As 
the time for sailing approached, he was busy day 
and night. There were a multitude of unusual 
details connected with the maiden voyage of the 
Lycoming that entailed endless messages. The 
ship’s owners were continually sending important 
• communications. Commanders of other Con- 
federated liners sent congratulations to the Ly- 
coming’s commander. Shipping agents and 
commercial houses fairly bombarded Captain 
Lansford with wireless communications. Finally 
passengers began to arrive and messages were 
sent to and by them. 

Even Roy, ignorant as he still was of matters 
nautical and commercial, could see that things 
were not going right. The ship still had to be 
coaled, and the coal barges were badly delayed in 
arriving. Certain big freight shipments, which 


81 


82 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

it was imperative for the Lycoming to carry, were 
held back by the congested condition of the rail- 
ways. The first of these shipments began to ar- 
rive about the time the last should have been 
safely stowed in the hold. Captain Lansford 
was plainly disturbed. He grew sharper and 
sharper tempered. He drove the stevedores at 
an incredible pace. He made the coal-passers 
work at a speed past belief. But the thing that 
seemed to annoy him most was the continual 
stream of wireless messages. Every succeeding 
communication seemed to put a sharper edge to 
his temper. From the first officer down to the 
humblest coal-passer, every member of the crew 
was on the alert. At the least word from Cap- 
tain Lansford they jumped to execute his com- 
mand. Despite the innumerable delays and ob- 
stacles, it looked as though the ship would sail on 
time. 

When Roy had said to himself that his job was 
to help keep the ship safe and on the dot, he 
meant it. By the terms of his employment he 
was required to be at his post at certain hours and 
to listen in at certain intervals. But Roy saw 
that already opportunity had come to him to be 
of real help to his captain. An hour’s delay in 
some of the messages that were arriving, he 
quickly saw, would make a great deal of differ- 


OFF TO SEA 


83 


ence to Captain Lansford and the sailing of the 
ship. So Roy threw aside all idea of working 
during prescribed hours only and stuck to his 
post. Indeed, he hardly left the wireless house, 
even for meals. Sam, the steward, was as anxious 
to win Roy’s good-will as Roy was to gain the 
captain’s, and he saw to it that Roy did not lack 
good things to eat or drink. It was hard to be 
confined so closely. And when there was so 
much near at hand that he wanted to see, it took 
real courage to force himself to stay in the wire- 
less house. But Roy put aside his desire for 
sightseeing, sent and received his messages 
promptly, and made sure that communications 
for Captain Lansford were always put into the 
commander’s hands immediately. Especially 
was Roy particular to spell his words correctly, 
write them plainly, and get all his figures correct. 

The purser had arranged to have a cabin-boy 
deliver the captain’s messages, and Roy was glad 
enough that he did not have to face Captain 
Lansford. As for the latter, he gave no sign 
that he either understood or appreciated the serv- 
ice Roy was rendering him. On the contrary, he 
lost no opportunity to condemn the innovation 
that had been forced on him. The cabin-boy, 
who disliked the task assigned to him, repeated to 
Roy all the harsh things that Captain Lansford 


84 


THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


said to him. But Roy only screwed his lips to- 
gether a little tighter and stuck to his job. It 
was the only way he knew of to make good. 

As the hour for sailing approached, the activi- 
ties on the pier were past describing. Roy had 
thought the stevedores worked fast when he saw 
them. If he could have watched them now he 
would hardly have believed his eyes. Hour after 
hour, in unending streams they rushed down the 
gangplanks with their enormous loads. Drays 
came and went. Drivers swore frantically at 
their horses and at one another. Motors honked 
and roared. Boxes and bales crashed to the floor 
of the pier shed with resounding thumps. The 
little hand-trucks rattled incessantly over the un- 
even planking. Donkey-engines and steam- 
winches clanked and shrieked, and the derricks 
groaned and creaked as load after load was 
hoisted aboard. Every hand that could be em- 
ployed in loading was working at top speed. The 
scene would have delighted Roy. But, like the 
coal-passers, the stevedores, the truckmen, the 
crew, and everybody else about the ship, he, too, 
was working at top speed. It seemed as though 
each one of the scores of men who were toiling 
about the ship was determined that the ship 
should sail on time, cost what it might. A very 
frenzy seemed to have taken possession of all 


OFF TO SEA 


85 


these toilers. Something had gotten into them, 
some spirit that made it seem more important to 
get the Lycoming off on time than to do anything 
else in the world. Like everybody else aboard, 
Roy was too busy to think about the thing or even 
to comprehend that a miracle was taking place 
under his very nose. 

Yet a miracle it was. For a few minutes be- 
fore the hour for sailing arrived, the final bale of 
freight was stowed in the hold, some of the 
hatches were battened down, and the gangplanks 
drawn ashore. The Lycoming would sail on 
time. 

With a frightful shriek of her great whistle, the 
huge ship gradually moved astern, sliding slowly 
out of its dock into the broad Hudson, where 
boats were crossing and recrossing and passing 
up and down like shuttles in a loom. The air was 
vibrant with their shrill, incessant tootings. Pon- 
derously the huge craft, pushed by snorting little 
tugs, turned its nose down-stream, headed for the 
open sea, and with quickening speed majestically 
slid through the tossing waters, with Captain 
Lansford, erect as a pine and as motionless, 
watching like an eagle on the bridge. 

Roy had lost none of his dislike for this harsh- 
tempered commander. But when he saw him 
standing thus at his post, like a veritable Gibral- 


86 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

tar, Roy gained a new conception of the man’s 
character. Suddenly there came to him an ap- 
preciation of the fact that Captain Lansford 
alone had made it possible to sail on time. Men, 
whom money would not budge, had worked like 
mad at his mere command. Obstacles that were 
seemingly insurmountable had been overcome. 
Work that was apparently impossible had been 
accomplished. Roy did not understand it at all, 
yet he began to realize that there was something 
in his commander that rose superior to obstacles 
and carried his fellows with him. Instinctively 
Roy felt safer because of that silent, immovable 
figure on the bridge. 

“ But it makes it all the tougher for me,” he 
thought. “ He’s got it in for me, and I know 
he’ll never forgive me for talking to him as I 
did.” 

Now that the pressure was relaxed, Roy was 
too busy seeing things to worry about the matter, 
for the Lycoming was fast picking up speed. 

“ Toot! Toot! Toot! ” went the Lycoming's 
whistle, as one vessel after another saluted the 
new craft. “ Toot!” it shrieked; “Toot! Toot!” 
as approaching craft indicated that they would 
pass to right or left. 

Now far out from the shore, the ship had left 
behind her the roar of the water-front. Gone 


OFF TO SEA 


87 


were the stench and dust of the streets, and the 
noise of traffic. Hidden from sight were the sor- 
did and ugly features of the city. The great 
buildings seemed like dream structures. A fairy 
city, indeed, appeared the great American me- 
tropolis as it shone in the summer sun. To Roy 
it was fairer than any city he had ever seen. 

Shortly the ship was passing Bedloe’s Island, 
with its towering statue of Liberty. Never had 
Roy been so close to the giant goddess. Always 
his heart thrilled at the sight of this emblem of 
Democracy. He was still a boy, but he was be- 
ginning to understand what is meant by that 
word Democracy. It meant opportunity to 
climb up, to get ahead, even as he was now start- 
ing to do; and Roy resolved that he would let 
nothing, absolutely nothing, stand between him 
and duty. For, as he looked at that immovable 
figure on the bridge, Roy realized more keenly 
than ever that if anything at all could help him 
to make good with his captain, it would be 
through doing his duty — just his plain, every-day 
duty as it came to him. 

Soon the statue of Liberty was far to the rear. 
Past Robbin’s Reef light, past quarantine, 
through the Narrows, past the forts on either side 
that dominate the narrow neck of water, and on 
into the lower bay, sped the Lycoming. Ahead 


88 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

loomed Hoffman’s and Swinburne’s Islands, the 
latter with its imposing hospital buildings, where 
quarantined immigrants are treated. On the 
right, ever receding, were the low-lying shores of 
New Jersey. Far to the left lay Coney Island, 
Manhattan Beach, Rockaway, and other famous 
pleasure resorts on the south shore of Long 
Island. While straight ahead rolled the illimit- 
able ocean, the goal of Roy’s desire. 

Presently Roy heard a step on the iron ladder 
leading to his perch and a moment later the 
purser joined him. 

“ Now,” said that individual, with a sigh, “ we 
can let down a bit. When it comes to being a 
slave-driver neither Pharaoh nor Simon Legree 
had anything on Captain Lansford. But he got 
us off on time, didn’t he?'” And the purser 
chuckled as though all his hard work of the past 
few days was a good joke. 

On the right the Atlantic Highlands were 
looming up, and the purser, who had a powerful 
glass in his hand, pointed out to Roy the range- 
lights that help to guide the mariner in the dark. 
Soon the Lycoming was off Sandy Hook, that 
low-lying finger of sand, with its fort and a light- 
house at the very tip. 

“ Ever read Cooper’s Water Witch? ” asked 
the purser, and Roy nodded, “ Yes.” 


OFF TO SEA 


89 


“ Then you’ll remember that famous little 
craft used to elude her pursuers by sailing into 
Sandy Hook Bay there — the body of water en- 
closed by the Hook — and slipping out to sea 
through a break in the Hook itself.” 

“ Was that the place? ” asked Roy, all interest. 

“ That’s it, all right, but the break in the Hook 
has long since filled up and Uncle Sam now has 
a little railway that runs along that narrow neck 
of sand out to the proving-grounds. You know 
some of the big guns for the army are tested here. 
If you look carefully, you will see that the little 
neck of sand is protected on the ocean side by 
pilings and rocks. Otherwise a heavy storm 
would wash the sand away and Sandy Hook 
would soon be an island.” 

Roy saw that the shore-line for miles was pro- 
tected by a heavy sheeting of piling and planks. 

“ It needs to be well protected,” said the purser, 
when Roy drew his attention to the fact. “ You 
will notice that there is an almost unbroken row 
of houses for miles along the ocean front. The 
land is nothing but sand and is very low. If it 
weren’t for the protection of these pilings, storms 
would soon eat the sand away and the houses 
would topple into the sea. In fact, it isn’t very 
long since a big storm did get a number of 
them.” 


90 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPEEATOR 

“ It doesn’t seem possible that such a thing 
could happen,” said Roy. 

“ When you’ve seen one or two rough storms 
and have watched the waves crashing over the 
Lycoming's decks, you’ll have a different idea of 
the power of the ocean.” 

“ What? ” said Roy. “ Do the waves ever 
sweep over the deck? ” 

“ Well, I guess,” said the purser. “ Just 
now the sea is as calm as a mill-pond, but let the 
wind blow a little and you’ll see what a fuss it 
will kick up.” 

“ But,” protested Roy, “ the deck is many feet 
above the water-line. Surely the waves don’t get 
so high as that.” 

“A good deal higher, youngster. They’ll roll 
up close to thirty feet in a good storm, and that’s 
as high as the average house or higher. Wait 
till you see some of those huge combers come 
crashing down on the deck and you won’t won- 
der that they have to fortify the coast along here. 
There isn’t a thing between here and Europe to 
stop the waves, once they get to rolling.” 

Roy whistled in amazement and took another 
look at the ocean. 

The Lycoming was now fairly at sea. In quick 
succession she passed a string of towns so grown 
together that there appeared to be but one long 


OFF TO SEA 


91 


community. These were the numerous summer 
resorts that occupy the narrow strip of land be- 
tween the Navesink River and the Atlantic 
Ocean. With the purser’s strong glass Roy 
could see from his high perch the crowds of 
bathers on the long beach and motor-cars speed- 
ing along the smooth boulevard that runs for 
many miles close to the shore-line. As darkness 
came on, the shore faded from sight. But in its 
place innumerable twinkling lights sprang into 
being, stretching in unbroken lines, like great 
strings of glowing jewels, for miles and miles up 
and down the coast, with brighter clusters here 
and there like pendants, to mark the hearts of the 
numerous towns. 

From his high post atop the ship, Roy com- 
manded an unobstructed view for miles in every 
direction. And in every direction lights twinkled. 
Ashore, millions of lights shone steadily like 
huge glowworms. The twin headlights of auto- 
mobiles, like giant, fiery eyes, turned this way or 
that and darted through the darkness. Search- 
lights pointed their long beams toward heaven, 
where they swung, now here, now there, like 
enormous pencils of light writing on the firma- 
ment. As far as he could see, the coast-line was 
pricked out in innumerable lights. 

Seaward shone the lamps of occasional ships. 


92 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


In places single, low-lying, bright eyes in the 
dark betokened the presence of small sailing 
ships with lights in their rigging. Lanterns 
gleamed aboard belated fishing ships, as they 
made for the great metropolis with their cargoes 
of sea food. And beyond them, but drawing 
steadily nearer, a moving mass of lights indicated 
the presence and approach of a great ocean liner. 

Roy had only to turn his eyes heavenward to 
see the faithful watch-lights that God so long ago 
placed in the heavens, and that are still shining 
undimmed to guide the footsteps of those who 
struggle upward — even as Roy was doing. 
Something of this he felt as he stood in silent 
wonder, charmed by the myriad lights ashore, 
fascinated by the bobbing gleams at sea, with 
their hint of mystery and romance. The sea! 
What things it had witnessed! What tragedies 
it had seen! What adventures had occurred on 
its heaving bosom! What acts of heroism had 
taken place on its broad expanse! 

Duty called Roy to the wireless house, for the 
early part of the night was his busy hour afloat. 
As he turned his back on the panorama of lights 
and went to his post, he wondered what the sea 
would bring to him. Hitherto he had thought 
little about the dangerous side of life at sea. 
Now he began to grasp the possibilities of 


OFF TO SEA 


93 


tragedy, to understand that not all of those who 
go down to the sea in ships return safely. As he 
looked out over the vast void and up into the 
unfathomable firmament, he felt again that sense 
of littleness and insignificance that had over- 
whelmed him upon his arrival in New York. 
But somehow there was a difference. The stars 
did not terrify him as his callous fellow beings 
had done. A sense of awe rather than fear 
gripped him. Long he looked at the silent stars, 
so calm, so imperturbable, and though it seemed 
ridiculous to compare his commander to one of 
God’s stars, he could not help thinking of that 
calm, immovable figure he had last seen on the 
bridge. Whether the night was fair, as it was 
now, or the tempest raged and the wave-crests 
hurled themselves upon the ship, Roy felt sure 
that his commander would be at his post, unterri- 
fied. With a prayer that he, too, might be found 
at his post, unterrified, doing his duty calmly 
when the pinch came, Roy took a final look at the 
stars, slipped into the wireless house, and sat 
down at his operating table, ready for the night’s 
work. 


CHAPTER VII 

THE NIGHT'S WORK 

R OY adjusted his receivers, threw over his 
switch, and listened in. A grin came over 
his face. The air was as noisy as the old foot- 
ball field at home when Central City was winning. 
Everybody was yelling through space at some- 
body else. It was one terrific babel of wireless 
voices. It seemed to Roy as though everybody 
within three hundred miles who had a radio in- 
strument was using it. But through all the 
racket he could plainly distinguish the whining 
call of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There was no 
mistaking that station. Roy tuned in and caught 
the message. It was an order for a torpedo-boat 
destroyer to start from Newport News next day 
for Brooklyn for an overhauling in the dry dock. 
Then Roy shifted to a commercial wave-length 
and caught a message from the incoming liner 
Kroonland, asking the police boat to meet her at 
quarantine to take off a card shark who had been 
caught fleecing fellow-passengers. The Clyde 
liner Iroquois was announcing to her owners her 
probable hour of arrival from San Domingo. 
The signals came so sharp and clear that Roy felt 
94 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


95 


certain they were sent from the steamer he had 
noticed earlier in the evening, which was now 
almost abreast of them. 

Night after night he had listened to wireless 
operators chatting to each other through the air, 
exchanging gossip and friendly messages. He 
hoped it would not be long before he became ac- 
quainted with some of his fellow operators so that 
he, too, could join in the evening gossip. But 
Roy was reluctant to start a conversation with 
a stranger. He feared he might be thought 
“ fresh.” Now, as he looked out of a window at 
the glowing ship so near at hand, he suddenly 
decided to talk with her, and see if she were the 
Iroquois. In a minute he had found the Iro- 
quois 9 call in his wireless directory, and the min- 
ute the Iroquois stopped talking he pressed his 
key. 

“ K VF — KV F — K VF— WN A,” sounded his 
signal, as the blue sparks leaped in his instrument. 

Almost immediately came the reply, “WN A — 

III— GA.” 

“ Where are you, Iroquois? ” asked Roy. 

“ Off the Jersey coast,” came the answer, 
“ about opposite Rarnegat.” 

“ Is there a steamer between you and shore? ” 
flashed back Roy. 

“ Yes. What of it? Who wants to know? ” 


96 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ That’s us,” flashed back Roy, “ the Lycom- 
ing/’ 

“ Never heard of you. Are you a tramp? 
Where from? ” 

“ No. New Confederated liner — maiden voy- 
age New York to Galveston. Roy Mercer, 
operator — just wanted to say howdy-do.” 

“ Congratulations and thanks,” came the reply. 
“ First job? ” 

“ Very first.” 

“ Good luck. How did the Giants make out 
to-day? ” 

“ Haven’t heard,” said Roy. 

“ Good-bye, old top. My name’s Graham. 
Call me up again.” And the Iroquois passed on, 
while Roy got his messages ready for transmittal. 

There were not many of these. The captain 
had filed a final report for the owners: a Wall 
Street broker ordered the sale of a thousand 
shares of United States Steel if the market rose. 
A salesman from Toledo wanted his firm to in- 
form him when he could guarantee delivery of 
some machinery he had sold. And the usual 
number of pleasure-seekers were sending mes- 
sages to their homes, announcing their departure 
from New York. Roy sent off the captain’s 
communication first, then quickly got rid of his 
commercial messages. For a long time he sat 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


97 


at his table, listening to the interesting messages 
that were pulsating through the nocturnal air. 
He felt sure that as long as he lived he could 
never grow tired of listening to these interesting 
voices of the night. 

When ten o’clock approached, he tuned to the 
Arlington wave-length and waited to catch the 
time and weather signals. Later still, he listened 
in for the daily news-letter sent out each night by 
the Marconi Company, for publication next day 
in the marine newspapers that wireless telegraphy 
had made possible on shipboard. The Lycoming 
had not subscribed to this service and it was not 
permissible for Roy to give out the news. But 
there was nothing to prevent him from picking it 
out of the air for his own information, or from 
giving it to the captain. In fact, the Marconi 
Company rather expected this as a courtesy to 
captains on ships using their service. So Roy 
was particular to take every word of the eight- 
hundred-word news-letter that was flashed forth 
to the world late that night. 

The German peace delegates had handed their 
reply, containing counter proposals, to the secre- 
tariate of the peace commission. The despatch 
gave the main points in the hundred-and-forty- 
six-page answer of the Germans. A troop call 
had been issued in Toronto in readiness for the 


98 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

pending strike of workers. A new rebellion was 
anticipated in Ireland. Captain Andre Tardieu 
had made a remarkable appeal to ten thousand 
soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force 
for a closer union between France and America. 
The baseball scores were given and Roy was 
pleased to learn that the Giants had beaten 
Brooklyn five to two and increased their lead. 
Hereafter he would be a Giant fan. He won- 
dered if Graham, on the Iroquois , had caught the 
news and was almost tempted to call him up. 
There was a brief resume of stock market con- 
ditions. But what interested Roy most was the 
announcement that the NC-4 would make its 
last lap next day from Lisbon to London. 

Roy had often picked these nightly news re- 
ports from the air, but never before had they 
meant to him what this message meant now. Al- 
ways before, he had been on land and had read in 
the evening papers much of the news included in 
the nightly news-letter. Now he was at sea. 
Every hour carried the Lycoming farther from 
shore. By morning, perhaps, she would be out 
of sight of land. Already Roy was beginning to 
feel that sense of isolation, of loneness, that 
comes to first voyagers on the sea. When he 
thought of all the ships that had gone down and 
all the people who had perished when help was 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


99 


really but a few hours distant, he thrilled anew 
at the thought that he could talk to other ships, 
even if they were hundreds of miles away, and so 
get help or bring help. With this thought came 
a new sense of the importance of his post. Truly 
his was a vital share in sailing the ship. It called 
for the best there was in him. 

By the time he had copied the weather-report 
and the news-letter, it was so late he thought the 
captain was probably asleep. Every night since 
Roy came aboard, he had sent the weather-report 
to Captain Lansford as soon as he had received 
it. The captain had never acknowledged the 
receipt of these messages nor indicated that he 
was pleased to have them. Yet Roy thought the 
commander ought to know about the weather. 
He was in a quandary. Should he risk the wrath 
of the captain by taking the message to him, or 
should he wait until morning and send it? Roy 
thought the matter over. 

“ I’m going to take it to him,” he said, finally. 
“ He ought to have this report and I’ll see that he 
gets it, no matter what happens.” 

He picked up the sheet of paper, skipped down 
the ladder, and presently found himself before 
the door of the captain’s cabin. His rather hesi- 
tating knock was greeted by a gruff voice from 
within. 


100 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ What do you want? ” 

“ This is the wireless man with the weather-re- 
port and the night’s news, Captain,” replied Roy. 

An angry exclamation was Roy’s answer. 
The door was flung open, and the captain, in his 
pajamas, stood in the doorway, boiling with 
wrath. 

“Weather-report!” he bellowed contemptu- 
ously. “Weather-report! What do I want of 
your weather-reports? Don’t you know better 
than to come battering at my door in the middle 
of the night? I left word that I should not be 
disturbed, and here you come bothering me with 
weather-reports. I’ll have obedience on ship- 
board, sir, or I’ll put you in irons. Now get out. 
And don’t you ever bother me again with your 
weather-reports.” 

“ But, Captain Lansford,” objected Roy, “ I 
thought you might want to know the news, and 
I have the day’s news-letter as well as the 
weather-report. I did not know that you were 
asleep or that you had left orders not to be dis- 
turbed. I am sorry, sir. I only wished to be 
of use, not to annoy you.” 

“Bah! More of your wireless nonsense!” 
roared the captain, and he banged his door shut. 
Yet he snatched Roy’s papers, weather-report 
and all, before he did so. 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


101 


Roy turned back toward the wireless house, but 
his encounter with the captain had driven every 
vestige of sleepiness from his eyes. He decided 
that he would look about the ship a bit. It was 
cool and pleasant and there were no passengers 
to bother him. It was against the rules for pas- 
sengers to visit the wireless house, but already 
several had asked Roy for permission to do so. 
Roy hardly knew how to refuse such a request 
without seeming rude, so he was glad to avoid 
passengers. He walked aft and for a while stood 
looking over the taffrail at the foaming trail the 
Lycoming left behind her. Then he went for- 
ward and looked ahead. There was no moon, 
but the stars shone clear and it was surprisingly 
light. The smallest object would have been 
visible on the water at a considerable distance. 
In the very nose of the boat was a sailor on watch. 
The man stood so motionless and leaned so snugly 
against the bow that Roy was not at first certain 
the figure was a man. He was tempted to go 
talk with him, but remembered in time that it is 
forbidden to converse with the men on watch. 
So he leaned over the rail and quietly watched 
the huge bow wave. He was close to the ladder 
that leads to the bridge. 

Suddenly a voice, very low, but clear and dis- 
tinct, said, “ Come up here, Mr. Mercer.” 


102 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


Roy looked up and saw Mr. Young, the first 
officer, standing above him on the bridge. 
Quickly he scrambled up the ladder and found 
himself beside the man in command of the Ly- 
coming. Roy knew that passengers were for- 
bidden on the bridge, and was fearful lest he 
might be trespassing himself. But Mr. Young 
soon dispelled his fears. 

“As wireless man,” he said, “ you have a per- 
fect right to come on the bridge, though it might 
be as well not to do so when the captain is here. 
You know he has some peculiar ideas.” 

Mr. Young smiled, yet there was nothing un- 
kind in his smile. Like the purser, the first mate 
seemed to have some feeling of kindness toward 
his superior. Roy wondered at it. He did not 
see how anybody could feel kindly toward such a 
gruff old dragon. He was the more surprised 
because Mr. Young, like Purser Robbins, was 
the very soul of good nature. Roy had been at- 
tracted to him from the start, for Mr. Young had 
made an evident effort to put Roy at his ease. 
Now he felt more grateful than ever to this great, 
blond giant. For Mr. Young was even larger 
than Captain Lansford. 

Quietly the two conversed in the starlight, 
though Mr. Young never took his eyes from the 
water before them. Occasionally he spoke a 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


103 


word to the steersman behind him in the wheel- 
house. He asked Roy many questions about his 
life and seemed interested in him. Roy was im- 
mensely pleased when Mr. Young remarked that 
he was glad the ship was equipped with wireless 
and that Roy was the operator. And Roy was 
astonished beyond belief when Mr. Young told 
him that he had sailed as first mate to Captain 
Lansford for fifteen years. Roy did not see how 
anybody who could possibly get another post 
would willingly serve with Captain Lansford. 
When he said as much to Mr. Young that officer 
smiled. 

“ Wait until you know Captain Lansford a 
little better/’ said Mr. Young, “ and you may 
think differently.” But Roy was sure that noth- 
ing could ever change his mind about Captain 
Lansford. His most fervent wish was to do his 
work satisfactorily for the next three months and 
get a transfer to some other vessel. 

It was after midnight when Roy sought his 
bunk. But first he went to his instrument and 
listened in for several minutes. If the sea was as 
calm elsewhere as it was about the Lycoming , he 
did not believe any ship could be in distress — un- 
less it might be from fire. Always, since he had 
watched the flames on that Brooklyn pier, he was 
thinking about fire at sea. If any vessel needed 


104 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

help, he did not intend that it should lack assist- 
ance through negligence on his part. 

When finally Roy retired, he was weary 
enough. Yet for a long time he could not sleep. 
The unaccustomed throbbing of the great en- 
gines, the vibration of the ship, and the unfamiliar 
movement as the vessel rode the long, smooth 
swells, kept Roy awake for a long time. Finally 
he did sleep, but presently dreamed that Captain 
Lansford was a real dragon and was about to 
drown him. Roy awoke with a cry of terror and 
found that his coat had slipped from its peg and 
fallen across his face. In another minute he was 
fast asleep again, and this time he slumbered 
soundly until six bells in the morning watch, 
when the striking of the ship’s bell awoke him. 

Day after day the weather continued fair and 
the sea calm. Even off Cape Hatteras, most 
famed of weather-breeders, the sky was like tur- 
quoise and the sea like glass. On the second day 
out Roy was delighted to discover a school of 
porpoises off the port bow. He had never seen 
porpoises before, but had often read about these 
huge playful fish-like creatures ; and when he saw 
them leaping out of the water, one after another, 
like so many runners clearing hurdles, he knew 
at once what they were. To his delight they came 
close to the ship, and for a long time swam ahead 


THE NIGHT’S WORK 


105 


of it, as though towing the great vessel. Roy 
knew that the Lycoming was making at least fif- 
teen knots an hour or better than a mile in four 
minutes. Yet these big creatures kept pace with 
her with no apparent effort; and when finally 
they swam off, they darted away from the Ly- 
coming as though she were anchored. 

“Whew!” whistled Roy. “If we’re going 
fifteen knots an hour, how fast are those fellows 
moving now? ” 

As the steamer drew into southern waters, the 
gray-green color of the ocean took on a bluish 
tint. Long before the ship entered the Gulf of 
Mexico the water was of the most beautiful deep 
blue, the color being emphasized by little white- 
caps. Along the Florida coast the steamer drew 
so close to shore that Roy could distinctly see the 
wide beaches, with their crowds of bathers and 
the many automobiles rushing over the smooth 
sands. Distinctly he could make out palm-trees 
and other growths new and wonderful to him. 
Often he watched the water in the hope that he 
might discover a manatee, but those strange 
animals frequent shallow waters and Roy saw 
none of them. 

On the way down the coast there was little for 
Roy to do. Occasional messages came for the 
captain; passengers sent messages infrequently; 


106 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


and Roy regularly caught the weather signals and 
picked from the air the nightly news-letter as 
long as his instruments could catch the ever 
fainter pulsations in the ether. These he con- 
tinued to send to the captain by messenger. Be- 
fore the journey ended, the Lycoming had passed 
out of range of the transmitting instrument. 
After that Roy had only the weather-report to 
send. 

The first time this occurred, the captain’s 
steward appeared at the wireless house and soon 
struck up a conversation with Roy. Casually he 
asked for the daily news-letter. Roy guessed 
that he had been sent by the captain expressly for 
this news-letter. But if that were true, the cap- 
tain gave no evidence of the fact. He continued 
to ignore Roy and gave no indication of any in- 
terest in Roy’s work. To all outward appear- 
ances he was merely tolerating Roy’s presence on 
board because he was compelled to do so. And 
Roy could see no way to gain the captain’s favor. 

After a quick and uneventful run across the 
Gulf, the Texas coast was sighted, and five days 
after leaving New York the Lycoming was off 
the port of Galveston. 


CHAPTER VIII 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 

IKE Mount Zion, this great seaport was 



■*— ' beautiful for situation. Located on the 
eastern tip of an island some thirty miles long, 
that lay not far off the mainland and parallel 
with it, the little city sat snugly between the Gal- 
veston Bay on the north and the swelling waters 
of the Gulf on the south. Barren stretches of 
sand girt the city on the west, while farther along 
the coast of the island rose some mound-like 
structures above which flew the American flag. 
Roy had already learned that this was Fort 
Crockett. But of the city before him he knew 
practically nothing. 

After standing straight in toward land for a 
considerable distance, the ship turned to port and, 
like a match about to pass a sawlog, steamed 
directly toward the island, but slightly to the 
right or north of it. It was mid-forenoon and 
there was no wireless work for Roy to do at the 
time. He came out of the wireless house and 
stood on the upper deck, so as to obtain an un- 


107 


108 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEKATOK 


obstructed view. Captain Lansford was again 
on the bridge. On the lower decks passengers 
were saying good-bye to one another, and making 
all the preparations necessary for departure. 
Stewards were bustling about, looking after 
baggage, helping passengers with their slight 
wraps and hand luggage, and performing a 
multitude of other acts designed in part to be 
helpful, but meant mostly to draw forth generous 
tips from grateful travelers. Much of this was 
hidden from Roy. But he could see enough of 
it to understand what was afoot. He was glad 
he was by himself, where he did not have to watch 
it. The very idea of seeking and taking tips was 
repugnant to him. 

He paid slight heed to what was going on be- 
low him, however, for there was so much to see 
elsewhere that he was soon deeply engrossed in 
the scene before him. So deeply did he become 
interested that he even failed to hear a footstep 
on the ladder and was not conscious that any one 
had mounted to his deck until a voice sounded 
close to his ear. Roy turned about with a start, 
then smiled a welcome. It was the chief en- 
gineer whose duties, like Roy’s, were about ended 
for the journey. 

“ Good-morning, Mr. Anderson,” smiled Roy. 
“ I’m glad to see you. What brings you up 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


109 


here? Can I do anything for you? Any mes- 
sages you want sent? ” 

“ Thank you, Sir. Mercer,” said the chief en- 
gineer. “ I can’t think of a soul I want to com- 
municate with. The purser asked me to step up 
and tell you about some of the things we shall 
see. He knew that you would be interested in 
them, but you know this is his busy time. He’s 
up to his eyes in work just now.” 

“ I am obliged both to you and to the purser,” 
said Roy. “ I do want to know about Galveston, 
but I don’t want to impose upon you, Mr. An- 
derson.” 

“ That’s all right. It’s no imposition. You 
know I am an engineer and I never tire of talk- 
ing of some of the engineering feats that have 
been accomplished here. There is nothing in all 
the world more interesting from an engineering 
standpoint than some of the things that have been 
done right on this little island.” 

Roy opened his eyes wide. He had no idea 
that Galveston was anything but a sleepy, south- 
ern seaport. He decided not to display his 
ignorance and so said nothing. But he felt sure 
that after what he had seen in New York, Gal- 
veston must prove to be tame indeed. 

For a space the two stood shoulder to shoulder, 
surveying the scene in silence. The usual morn- 


110 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


ing breeze had sprung up and the blue waters of 
the Gulf were foaming white under its breath. 
The whitecaps chased one another shoreward, and 
broke on the beach in glistening foam. High 
above them rose the town, looking for all the 
world like a city built on a rock. Its white houses 
gleamed in the warm June sun. 

Roy soon forgot the still-distant city in his 
astonishment at seeing what looked like a gigantic 
stone wall that seemed to reach straight out from 
the shore almost to the Lycoming. It made Roy 
think of some of the old stone pasture walls on 
the farms about his home. But this, being in the 
sea, couldn’t possibly be a pasture wall, and Roy 
had no idea what it was. On the end of it stood 
a strong little structure that evidently held a light 
to guide the way at night. 

“ What in the world is that curious stone wall 
for? ” asked Roy, turning to Mr. Anderson. 

“ I thought that you would soon find some- 
thing of interest,” said the chief engineer with a 
smile. “ That is one of the jetties Uncle Sam 
built to deepen the channel. If you look off to 
the right you will see a second jetty that roughly 
parallels this. The jetty on the left is nearly 
seven miles long. The one on the right is five 
miles long. That makes twelve miles of stone 
wall, as you call it. The two walls are two miles 


WHEEE COTTON IS KING 


111 


apart at the shore end and seven thousand feet 
at this end. We run in between them. ,, 

“ Makes you think of a pasture lane fenced in 
with stone, doesn’t it? ” inquired Roy with a 
smile. “ But how in the world can two stone 
walls have anything to do with making the 
channel deeper? ” 

Smiling over Roy’s perplexity, Mr. Anderson 
replied, “ That’s exactly what these jetties are, 
in fact — a kind of lane for the waves to go 
through. There are two bars that obstruct the 
entrance to this harbor, which otherwise is one of 
the finest in the land. Over the outer bar there 
were only twelve feet of water, and at the inner 
bar nine and a half feet. An ocean liner draws 
twenty-five or thirty feet, you know, and couldn’t 
possibly get over such a shallow place. That 
meant that Galveston, though ideally situated for 
a seaport, could never be reached by big ships. 
The government kept dredging the channel, but 
the shoals filled up about as fast as the dredges 
dug them out. Finally Uncle Sam’s engineers 
solved the problem by building those big stone 
walls.” 

“ Even now I don’t understand what the stone 
walls have to do with deepening the channel,” 
said Roy, still perplexed. 

Mr. Anderson chuckled. “ Those stones, as 


112 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


you call them, are granite blocks weighing five 
to twelve tons each/’ he said. “ The jetties are 
twelve to fifteen feet wide at the top and so solid 
that the water can’t flow through them ; so it has 
to run between them, exactly like cattle going 
down your pasture lane. The tide runs so fast 
that it washes the loose sand out of the channel, 
scouring it clean every day, as it were. The re- 
sult is that now Galveston has a thirty-one-foot 
channel at high water.” 

Roy whistled in astonishment. “ That beats 
anything I ever heard of,” he said. “ It was a 
pretty slick idea, wasn’t it? ” 

Steadily the Lycoming ploughed her way along 
between the jetties. As they drew near the 
shore ends of the jetties, Roy noticed that the 
long south jetty ran directly to Galveston Island, 
while the shorter north jetty ended at a small 
island in Galveston Bay. Mr. Anderson said it 
was called Pelican Island. 

But what immediately gripped Roy’s attention 
was the great wall that began at the end of the 
south jetty and ran around the outer side of the 
city. Vaguely he remembered having heard of 
the Galveston sea-wall, and he knew this must 
be it. He was amazed as he looked at it. Evi- 
dently the wall was of cement, for it appeared 
like a solid piece of stone. Its seaward side was 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


113 


concave, being far wider at the base than at the 
top. Its base was protected by a wide riprap of 
huge granite blocks, evidently intended to pre- 
vent the waves from undermining it. Roy won- 
dered how the waves could ever get up to the 
wall, let alone threaten it, for a stretch of beach, 
fully two hundred feet wide, lay between the wall 
and the waves that were now breaking on the 
glistening sands. 

“ Well, what do you think of it? ” inquired the 
chief engineer after a time. 

“ I’ve heard of the Galveston sea-wall,” said 
Roy , 4 4 but I had no idea it was anything like that. 
Why, that’s a wonderful piece of work.” 

44 It’s a great deal more wonderful than you 
think, Mr. Mercer. It is one of the most won- 
derful things in the world. That wall is built on 
sand.” 

44 Yes?” said Roy, not appreciating exactly 
what a difference that meant. 

44 Yes; on sand ” repeated Mr. Anderson, with 
considerable emphasis on the word. 44 You know 
a heavy sea would ordinarily quickly undermine 
such a structure. The sand would be washed 
from underneath it.” 

44 Then what prevents the sea from doing it? ” 
asked Roy, growing much interested. 

44 It’s built on pilings,” replied the chief en- 


114 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


gineer. “ Four rows of ’em driven forty-three 
feet into the sand and projecting a foot up into 
the wall itself. Then there’s a twenty-four-foot 
sheet piling behind the outer row to prevent 
scouring, and the stone riprap at the foot of the 
wall is twenty-seven feet wide and three feet 
thick. The wall itself is sixteen feet thick at the 
base, five feet wide at the top, and seventeen feet 
high. The city built three and a half miles of it, 
and the government extended it more than a mile 
farther to protect Fort Crockett.” 

“Whew!” ejaculated Roy. “That is some 
piece of engineering. I don’t wonder you like to 
look at it.” 

“Oh! That’s only part of the story,” con- 
tinued the chief engineer with a smile, “ and per- 
haps the smaller part. The raising of the city 
to the level of the wall is perhaps more wonder- 
ful than the making of the wall itself. Sea-walls 
aren’t unique by any means, but I know of noth- 
ing quite like the raising of the level of Gal- 
veston. You know the entire city was raised.” 

Roy looked his astonishment. “ Not really? ” 
he gasped. 

“ Yes, really. Before the storm of 1900 the 
highest point in the city was only six feet above 
tide level. Now it is nineteen feet. After the 
sea-wall was done, they raised all the buildings 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


115 


and the street-car tracks, built elevated plank 
sidewalks, dredged twenty million cubic yards of 
sand from the Gulf and pumped it into the city 
until it filled up to the proper level. Then they 
rebuilt foundations, repaved the streets, replanted 
the trees and shrubs, and resowed the grass.” 

“ Gee whiz ! ” exclaimed Roy. “ I never heard 
of anything like it. Why, it’s wonderful, won- 
derful ! I thought New York was great, but this 
beats anything I saw there. Just to think of rais- 
ing a whole city nineteen feet in the air! Why, 
that’s as high as a two-story house.” 

“ It isn’t quite so wonderful as that,” smiled 
Mr. Anderson. “ The nineteen-foot elevation is 
only on the Gulf side. That point is two hun- 
dred feet back from the sea-wall, so that if any 
water comes over the wall it will run back into 
the sea. In the other direction the ground slopes 
toward the Bay, where they raised the level only 
to eight feet. As the island is about three and 
a half miles wide, that makes only a very slight 
grade.” 

For some time Roy stood in silent wonder. 
He was amazed at what the chief engineer had 
told him. Suddenly he turned to his companion 
and demanded, “ What did they do it for? 
They’ll probably never have another storm like 
that. Why, it must have cost a pile of money.” 


116 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ It cost millions,” said Mr. Anderson. “ But 
it was worth it. The flood of September 8, 1900, 
swept over the city to a depth of sixteen feet. 
People used to live way out this side of the sea- 
wall, where now you see only tossing water. 
The entire end of the island for eight blocks in- 
land was washed away, with all the houses. 
Eight or ten thousand people were drowned and 
the property loss was many millions. It was the 
worst catastrophe due to natural causes in the his- 
tory of America. As for storms, you never can 
tell. Every fall brings hard ones here in the 
Gulf. They’ve had some bad ones besides the 
Galveston flood. In September, 1875, a terrible 
hurricane swept the city. Late in August, 1886, 
another awful storm occurred. But the storm of 
1900 was the worst ever known. There was a 
tidal wave then that swept right over the island. 
If the city was to be safe, it had to be protected 
somehow. So they built the sea-wall. Such a 
wave might occur again at any time. You might 
see one yourself this coming September. There 
are always bad storms then.” 

. By this time the Lycoming was close to her 
dock and Roy was more than astonished at what 
he could see of the shipping facilities. 

“ Whew! ” he said. “ It looks as though they 
could handle almost as many ships here as they 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


117 


do in New York. I had no idea Galveston was 
so much of a seaport. There must be miles of 
wharves. What makes it such a great seaport, 
anyway? ” 

“ Some years Galveston ranks next to New 
York in the volume of its shipping,” said the chief 
engineer, “ so that it claims to be the second most 
important seaport in America. So much of our 
cotton is shipped by way of Galveston that it is 
the greatest cotton port in all the world. The 
greatest cottonseed grinding plant in the world 
is right on the water-front, where its products can 
be put directly aboard ships. And the port 
handles an enormous amount of tropical products 
like bananas, coffee, sugar, lumber, and corn and 
cattle from Mexico and Argentina. There are 
probably sixty or seventy lines of steamboats that 
run from here. Ships go direct from Galveston 
to all the important ports in Europe, Asia, Latin 
America, and Cuba. So you see they need vast 
shipping facilities. There are six miles of 
wharves Here and more than one hundred great 
ocean freighters can load or unload at one 
time.” 

“ Great Caesar! ” ejaculated Roy. “ This cer- 
tainly must be a great city. How big is it, any- 
way? ” 

“ That’s the interesting thing about Galveston. 


118 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


It does all this business, but it’s really only a 
small city. I doubt if there are more than fifty 
thousand people here, and its total area is only 
about fifteen square miles. You could put it in 
one of New York’s pockets, so to speak. Yet it 
is the leading seaside resort in the southwest and 
more than a million pleasure-seekers visit Gal- 
veston every year.” 

“Gee whiz!” said Roy. “They must be 
hustlers if so few people can handle so much 
traffic. It seemed to me it took almost five thou- 
sand stevedores and truck drivers just to load the 
Lycoming /’ 

Mr. Anderson laughed. “ They can handle 
so much freight,” he said, “ because everything is 
built so as to facilitate the work.” 

He pointed out some grain elevators beside the 
wharf from which wheat was pouring through 
great spouts directly into waiting steamships, and 
he showed Roy water-front warehouses for steel 
materials, broom-corn, cotton, and other products. 

“ We shall dock beside a cotton warehouse,” 
said the chief engineer. “ Step into the place 
when you go ashore and take a look at it.” 

By this time the Lycoming was close to her 
berth. The chief engineer said good-bye and 
scrambled down the ladder. Roy watched Cap- 
tain Lansford dock the steamer. He could not 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


119 


but admire the skilful way in which the com- 
mander laid the huge ship beside her pier as 
though she were a mere foot-boat. Then Roy 
came down to the lower decks and watched the 
passengers swarm ashore. Presently he went 
down the gangplank himself. He walked up 
and down the wharf, which felt very strange in- 
deed because it did not move like the ship. 

Presently he stepped into the cotton warehouse 
the chief engineer had pointed out to him. Its 
size amazed him. It was hundreds of yards long 
and many wide. Seemingly it contained thou- 
sands of huge bales of cotton, each weighing five 
hundred pounds. On the landward side freight 
trains were standing full of cotton. And the 
floors of trains, warehouse, and wharf were on a 
level, so that the cotton could be trucked direct 
from freight-car to steamer in one handling. 
Roy could not help contrasting this expeditious 
way of handling freight with the cumbersome 
system necessary in New York. 

He was turning the matter over in his mind 
when the superintendent of the warehouse came 
along. Noticing Roy’s uniform, he stopped and 
spoke to him. 

“ Fine morning, sir,” he said. “ Belong on the 
Lycoming? ” 

“ Yes, sir,” answered Roy politely. 


120 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ Anything I can do for you? ” 

“ Thanks. I think not,” said Roy. “ I was 
just admiring your warehouse.” 

The superintendent’s face lighted up. “Ain’t 
she a daisy? ” he said. “ One of the finest in the 
world. Step in and look around.” 

“My!” said Roy, “you’ve a lot of cotton 
here.” 

“A mere handful, my boy, a mere handful,” 
repeated the superintendent. “ Our cotton con- 
centration plants here can accommodate a million 
bales, sir, a million bales. We’ve handled four 
million bales in a year at this port, sir.” 

Roy stepped across the warehouse to look at 
the cotton cars, but his eye was instantly caught 
by the long lines of car tracks that ran parallel 
with the wharves. The superintendent noticed 
his astonishment. 

“ There are more than seventy-five miles of 
tracks abutting on our water-front,” he said, “ so 
you see we can handle a heap of stuff.” 

Roy whistled in amazement. “ How do trains 
get here?” he asked. “This is an island, isn’t it?” 

“ It sure is an island,” replied the superin- 
tendent, “ but we are connected with the main- 
land by a big causeway of reinforced concrete, 
like the sea-wall. It’s two miles long, and has 
three railroad tracks, a roadway for vehicles, and 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


121 


a path for pedestrians. It cuts right across the 
Bay from the island to Virginia Point on the 
mainland. You can see it from here. ,, And the 
obliging warehouseman showed Roy the huge 
stone roadway spanning the Bay. 

“ Too bad it had to be built, isn’t it? ” said 
Roy. “ It cuts your harbor in half, I suppose. 
If it weren’t for that you could sail ships clear 
around the island.” 

“We can, anyway,” replied the superin- 
tendent. “ There’s a roller lift bridge spanning 
the channel that lifts straight up to let ships pass 
through.” 

“ Well, I never! ” exclaimed Roy. “ Is there 
anything you folks haven’t done down here? ” 

The superintendent’s face glowed with pride. 
“Yes; that’s a pretty fine causeway,” he said, 
“ but as an engineering feat there’s nothing in 
Galveston more interesting than our water sup- 
ply. We get our drinking water from artesian 
wells on the mainland, the water being carried 
through huge pipes laid under the Bay.” 

“ You are certainly a wonderful lot of people, 
you Galveston folks,” cried Roy. 

Again the superintendent smiled with pleasure. 
Then his face became serious. “We have done 
a lot of interesting things here,” he said, “ but we 
aren’t a bit different from the rest of the nation. 


122 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


We’re Americans. That explains all these up- 
to-date achievements. They represent the spirit 
of America. You’ll find Americans doing the 
same kind of wonderful things wherever you go — 
New York, or San Francisco, or here in Gal- 
veston.” 

“ I’m mighty glad I’m an American,” said 
Roy with emphasis. 

“ You ought to be, young man. Don’t ever 
forget that.” 

The superintendent went on about his duties 
and Roy began to look about him again. He 
wanted to see something of the city itself, but de- 
cided to wait until the purser could go with him. 

It was not until after luncheon that the purser 
found time for a stroll with Roy. Then the two 
set out for a tour of the city. As they came down 
the gangplank, the harbor-master was passing. 
Catching sight of the purser, he turned about and 
hurried over to greet him. 

“ Good-evening, Mr. Robbins, good-evening,” 
he said heartily, shaking the purser’s hand 
warmly. “ I sure am glad to see you. You’ll 
pardon me for hurrying away now, won’t you? 
For I have a pressing job on hand. But won’t 
you all stop at my office later? If I’m not there 
you all find chairs on the gallery. Nathan will 
look after you.” 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 


123 


“ Thanks,” smiled the purser. “ We’ll be de- 
lighted to stop.” 

He introduced Roy and the harbor-master 
hurried away, again apologizing for leaving 
them. 

When the harbor-master was out of hearing, 
Roy turned to the purser. “ Did you notice that 
he said ‘ good-evening ’ to us, and it’s only half- 
past one? ” 

The purser laughed. “ In the south,” he ex- 
plained, “ evening begins at one minute after 
noon. Nobody ever says good-afternoon down 
here.” 

“ Well, I never! ” exclaimed Roy. “And what 
did he mean by ‘ find a chair on the gallery ’? ” 

“ Gallery is the southern name for piazza or 
portico,” said the purser. 

“And did you notice how he said ‘you all’? 
Does everybody talk like that down here? ” 

Again the purser laughed. “ Unless he’s just 
landed, like yourself, he does.” 

“Well,” said Roy, with a sigh, “I see one thing. 
I’ve got to learn how to speak English all over 
again or these folks won’t know what I’m talking 
about. How does it come that southerners talk 
so different from the rest of the country? ” 

“ It’s easy to see that you’ve never traveled,” 
replied the purser, “ or you wouldn’t say that. 


124 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEBATOK 


New Englanders don’t talk any more like New 
Yorkers than New Yorkers talk like folks out 
west.” 

Roy’s eyes opened wide. “ I never knew that,” 
he said. “ What’s the reason for it? ” 

“ The size of the country,” said the purser. 
“ The United States of America is as big as half 
a dozen countries of Europe rolled into one. We 
don’t think it strange that people of different 
nations speak different languages and it isn’t 
any stranger that people in different sections of 
such a vast country as the United States should 
develop different dialects.” 

“ I never thought of that before,” said Roy. 

They passed on into the city. But though it 
was midday very few persons were to be seen. 

“ What’s the matter? ” queried Roy. “ The 
streets are almost deserted and there doesn’t seem 
to be any business going on at all.” 

Again the purser smiled. “ Just another dif- 
ference in customs,” he said. “ In England, you 
know, all business stops for five o’clock tea. 
Here it is the custom to rest during the middle 
of the day. That’s a common practice in all hot 
countries.” 

“ Well, I never! ” cried Roy. “ I’m certainly 
learning a lot.” 

They passed on into the city. The business 


WHERE COTTON IS KING 125 

houses were mostly low and old-fashioned. The 
dwellings were mostly detached frame structures, 
each standing in a yard full of flowers and 
shrubbery. There was an almost utter absence 
of large trees, but after what Roy had learned 
about the grade raising he understood why there 
were none. It astonished him to learn from the 
purser that there never had been any real tall 
trees, because the island was so near tide level 
that the salt water seeping through the sand 
killed all deep-rooted growths. What particu- 
larly delighted Roy was the presence everywhere 
of rich growths of oleanders, and other tropical 
plants that he had never seen before. 

“ I feel almost as though I were in a foreign 
country,” said Roy after a time. “ It is all so 
different from the north.” 

“ In a sense you are in a foreign land,” replied 
the purser, “ for Galveston hasn’t been a part of 
the United States nearly as long as your native 
Pennsylvania.” 

“ I didn’t realize that,” said Roy. “ How did 
that happen? ” 

“ You’ve evidently forgotten your history, 
Roy. Galveston Island, and all of Texas, for 
that matter, once belonged to Mexico, and Mex- 
ico was ruled by Spain.” 

“ Of course,” said Roy, somewhat mortified. 


126 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ This island,” continued the purser, “ was 
named after the Count de Galvez, the Spanish 
viceroy of Mexico. In 1836 Colonel Michael 
Menard organized the Galveston Company and 
bought the island from the Republic of Texas for 
$50,000, but the company didn’t prosper very 
well. Later we fought Mexico and in 1848 ac- 
quired all of Texas and other border states in the 
southwest. After that date Galveston was a 
sure enough part of the nation, but you see Uncle 
Sam was a hale old gentleman of nearly seventy 
years by that time. So Galveston has been a part 
of the country only about half as long as the 
territory in the original thirteen states.” 

“ It’s mighty interesting to think of the Span- 
iards being here,” said Roy. “ Reminds you of 
pirates.” 

“ There were pirates here all right, but I do not 
believe they were Spanish. Jean Lafitte was a 
very notorious pirate, and in 1816 he made this 
island his headquarters. Later he was driven out 
by the United States government. What an 
ideal place this was for him, with this fine bay to 
hide in until unsuspecting ships came near. He 
could probably get fresh meat here, too, for this 
island was once a favorite hunting ground of the 
Caronkawas, a powerful and warlike tribe of In- 
dians that lived along the Texas coast.” 


WHEKE COTTON IS KING 


127 


The two continued straight on across the 
island and finally found themselves on the Gulf 
side. They stood on the broad sea-wall and 
looked out over the great expanse of tossing 
waves. Far as the eye could see nothing was 
visible but shining water. Far below them the 
waves broke on the sands and chased one another 
up the sloping beach. High above the sands, on 
great pilings, stood numerous pavilions and piers 
built for the accommodation of pleasure-seekers. 
Along the sea-wall ran a broad promenade of 
asphalt, the water-front buildings standing a 
hundred feet back from the sea-wall. There were 
few bathers, but the purser said the beach would 
be crowded later in the day. 

From the Gulf beach the two sightseers made 
their way back to the Lycoming by circuitous 
routes, walking this way and that to see objects 
of interest that the purser wanted to point out. 
They saw some of the twenty magnificent hotels 
that care for the floating population, including 
the community hotel, The Galvez, that was built 
by popular subscription. They took a look at 
the United States Custom-house and other pub- 
lic buildings, saw the great dry dock and marine 
works, the clearing and conditioning elevator, the 
creosoting plant, and a number of big factories 
and warehouses. When they got back to the 


128 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 


Lycoming , after stopping for a chat with the 
harbor-master, Roy felt as though he had been 
on a very long journey. He had seen more new 
things and learned more than he believed possible 
in one day. 

But nothing pleased him more than the fact 
that everybody treated him as though he were a 
man. It was only a few days since people in 
Central City had been shouting at him, “ Hey, 
kid! ” Now every one addressed him as Mr. 
Mercer and was very courteous to him — that is, 
every one excepting Captain Lansford, who 
hardly spoke to him at all and who seemed an- 
noyed every time he met him. Roy believed he 
was doing his work well enough to deserve his 
captain’s good-will. He had been absolutely 
faithful and had spent much more time at his 
post than the regulations required. But the cap- 
tain seemed to have no understanding of that 
fact or appreciation of what he was doing. 

“ Well,” sighed Roy, “ one swallow doesn’t 
make a summer, and one voyage doesn’t make an 
experienced wireless man. The time will come 
when the captain will be glad he’s got a wireless 
man aboard. I’ll learn all I can and make my- 
self as useful as possible. My opportunity will 
come.” 


CHAPTER IX 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 

HERE seemed small chance that his oppor- 



■*- tunity would come while the Lycoming was 
in port, however, for the great ship lay peace- 
fully in her dock, day after day, while the process 
of loading her went on apace. There was al- 
most nothing for Roy to do. Though he had 
seen a great deal on the day of his arrival, there 
still remained many points of interest that he 
wished to visit. But before doing any more 
sightseeing, Roy determined to familiarize him- 
self with the Lycoming . He was working for 
more than amusement. A chance might come, 
even though he had nothing whatever to do with 
navigating the ship, when a thorough knowledge 
of the vessel might be of great use. So he de- 
cided to stick to the ship for a time. 

Roy was now in position to learn with ease 
whatever he wished to know about the Lycoming. 


129 


130 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


He felt sure that both Mr. Young, the first mate, 
and the chief engineer, Mr. Anderson, had taken 
a fancy to him. As for the purser, Mr. Robbins, 
Roy knew well enough that the latter was his 
firm friend. Sam, the steward, had looked after 
Roy with that genuine solicitude that only an old 
southern darky can display, and Roy had already 
grown fond of the white-headed negro. He knew 
that these men would gladly show him any parts 
of the ship he wished to see. 

Immediately after breakfast on the morning 
after their arrival, Roy slipped down to the pur- 
ser’s office. He intended merely to ask what was 
the most interesting thing to see on shipboard. 
But when he beheld the purser sweating at his 
desk, with a mountainous pile of bills, receipts, 
and other memoranda stacked around him, Roy 
immediately made up his mind what he was going 
to do. 

“ See here,” said Roy. “ Isn’t there some- 
thing I can do to help you? I can add pretty 
well and write a plain hand, and I’m looking for 
a job.” 

The purser looked at him quizzically. “ Tired 
of sightseeing already? ” he asked. 

“ Not a bit of it,” said Roy. “ I’m going to 
see everything in this town that’s worth seeing. 
But you’re loaded down with work. I can see 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 131 

that. And if there’s anything I can do to help 
you, I want to do it. The sightseeing can wait. 
What shall I do? ” 

“ If you really mean it,” said the purser, “ you 
can help me an awful lot. Just read these memo- 
randa to me while I check the entries in my 
books.” 

All that morning Roy and the purser worked 
in the latter’s office. Roy read memoranda, 
added figures, copied accounts, and did other 
tasks as directed. For a while Mr. Robbins 
checked up Roy’s work; but he soon found that 
Roy was careful and made no mistakes. When 
noon came the purser threw down his pen with a 
sigh of relief. 

“ Lad,” he said, “ it would have taken me two 
days to do alone what the two of us have accom- 
plished this morning. This just about clears up 
my work at this end of the trip. I can’t tell you 
how I hate all this business of accounts or how 
much obliged I am to you. I don’t know how to 
thank you.” 

“ Pshaw! ” protested Roy. “ I haven’t done 
anything. I ought to thank you for teaching me 
something about a purser’s work. I want to 
know all about steamships, now that I’m going to 
live on one.” 

“ Good boy,” cried the purser. “ I thought I 


132 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

wasn’t mistaken in you. I’ll back you to suc- 
ceed, Roy.” 

“ I’ll need a whole lot of backing,” laughed 
Roy, “ if I am ever to get anywhere with Cap- 
tain Lansford. He sure has it in for me.” 

“ Just forget about him and keep on plug- 
ging,” said the purser. “ You’ll swear by him 
when you know him better.” 

Roy made a wry face. 

“ Come on, lad,” suggested the purser, pulling 
on his coat. “ No old ship’s grub for us to-day. 
We’ll have a bite of real southern cooking.” 

He hooked his arm in Roy’s and they hustled 
up the gangplank and down the wharf toward a 
near-by restaurant, where they had chicken 
gumbo soup, fried chicken, hot corn bread, Mex- 
ican coffee, so strong it almost made Roy sick, 
and a number of other dishes that were strange 
and wonderful to Roy. 

The purser was feeling very complacent by the 
time they returned to the ship. 

“ What do we do next?” asked Roy. “ I’m 
eager to learn some more about a purser’s work.” 

“ We’re going to tackle a little job that is al- 
ways part of this purser’s business when he is in 
Galveston, and that will be as interesting to you, 
I suspect, as it is new.” 

He leaned forward and punched the call 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 133 


bell. In a few moments Sam, the steward, ap- 
peared. 

“ What can I do for yuh, Mistah Robbins, 
suh? ” he inquired, bowing and smiling. 

“You know that little job I always do down 
here with a pound of white meat, Sam? ” 

“ ’Deed I does, suh,” chuckled the darky, 
grinning from ear to ear. 

“ Well, then you know what to do, Sam. I 
want you to fix us up in your very best style. 
Mr. Mercer has never dangled a bit of white 
meat.” 

Sam went out, chuckling aloud, and Roy was 
too astonished for words. He didn’t like to ask 
questions, for the purser had once admonished 
him to keep his eyes open and his mouth shut if 
he wished to get ahead in the world ; so he waited 
for the purser to explain. But Mr. Robbins gave 
him no hint of what to expect. All he said was, 
“ We’ll just check off this last list while Sam is 
getting us ready.” But Roy could see that the 
purser’s eyes were dancing. 

Before they were done with the check-list, Sam 
reappeared. He had two large chunks of whitish 
meat, each piece weighing a pound or more, and 
each being attached to a long length of strong 
cord. 

The purser threw down the list they were 


134 THE YOUNG WIKELESS OPEKATOB 

checking. “ Come on,” he said, and picking up 
the two pieces of meat, he led the way on deck. 
A yawl was bobbing alongside the Lycoming and 
a rope ladder had been let down to it. In the 
yawl lay two scoop nets. Mr. Robbins dropped 
the meat into the yawl, then led the way down the 
ladder. 

“ Now lower your meat into the water until it 
is completely out of sight,” said the purser, when 
the two had seated themselves at opposite ends 
of the little boat. “ When you feel something 
nibbling at your bait, pull up very slowly and 
gently. So.” And he dropped his meat into 
the water, then carefully raised it. 

Roy did as directed, and sat very still, holding 
the line over his forefinger. The current tugged 
at his bait and deceived him at first and he lifted 
his meat in vain. But presently he felt a very 
different sort of pull on his cord. Drawing it 
upward ever so gently, the white meat presently 
came in sight and hanging to it with its two claws 
was a greenish-blue creature with a number of 
flippers gently waving in the water. 

“ Easy now,” urged the purser. “ Scoop him 
gently or you’ll lose him. He’s a big one.” And 
he thrust one of the nets into Roy’s hand. 

But Roy was too eager. He made a little 
splash as he dipped the net, and the creature 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 135 


sank from sight. Roy made a vigorous scoop 
with the net, but missed it. 

“ Pshaw ! ” exclaimed Roy. “ That was a fool 
trick. I’ll bet I don’t scare the next one away.” 

Nor did he. The purser lifted and netted one 
of the creatures while Roy was speaking, and 
dropped it in the bottom of the boat. But before 
Roy had time to look at it, he felt another tug at 
his line. Gently lifting his bait, he discovered 
another of the creatures nibbling at it. This one 
was a whopper. Taking great care, Roy netted 
the thing and dropped it in the boat with an ex- 
clamation of triumph. 

“ They look exactly like crabs,” said Roy, 
“ only they are green instead of red.” 

The purser burst into a roar of laughter, and 
over his head Roy heard suppressed titterings. 
He looked up and saw several of the stewards, in- 
cluding Sam, watching them. 

“ Forgive me, old fellow,” said the purser after 
a moment, wiping his eyes with his handkerchief. 
“ I just couldn’t help laughing. They are crabs, 
all right enough. Those you are evidently 
familiar with have been boiled. These will be 
red, too, when they are cooked. Boiling changes 
their color.” 

Roy laughed heartily at his own mistake. “ I 
don’t wonder they turn red when they’re boiled,” 


136 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


he said. “ I believe I should, too. And I don’t 
wonder you laughed at me.” 

“ I’m heartily ashamed of myself,” said the 
purser, now sober enough, “ but I just couldn’t 
help it.” 

“Don’t you worry about that,” smiled Roy. 
“ I should have laughed harder than you did if 
I had been in your place.” 

“ Good for you, Roy,” rejoined the purser. 
“Anybody who can laugh at a joke when it’s on 
himself, will get along all right.” 

In a short time they had caught a fine mess of 
crabs and the creatures were crawling all over the 
bottom of the boat. Roy tried to pick one of 
them up, but the crab nipped his fingers with its 
claws until the blood came. 

“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Roy. “They sure 
can pinch.” 

“ Let me show you how to handle them,” sug- 
gested the purser. And selecting the largest and 
fiercest looking crab in the boat, he deftly caught 
it from behind and picked it up. The creature 
tried in vain to pinch the purser’s fingers but 
could not reach them. Imitating the purser, 
Roy safely picked up a crab and soon was hold- 
ing one aloft in each hand. 

“ Sam,” said the purser, dropping his meat 
into the bottom of the boat, “ see what you can 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 137 

do with these fellows. And remember, Mr. 
Mercer has never eaten fresh crabs.” 

When the two fishermen had climbed to the 
deck of the Lycoming and Sam had taken charge 
of the crabs, the purser said to Roy, “ Now run 
along and enjoy yourself. I’m a thousand times 
obliged to you for your help.” 

“ Isn’t there anything more that I can do to 
help you? ” asked Roy. 

“ Not a thing, lad. One can finish what re- 
mains as well as two, and perhaps better than 
two. But I’m obliged to you for the offer.” 

“ I’m obliged to you for the dinner and the 
introduction to real, live crabs,” said Roy as he 
turned away from the purser and found himself 
face to face with the chief engineer. 

“ Well, did you enjoy yourself? ” asked Mr. 
Anderson, with a smile. “ I saw you crabbing 
with Mr. Robbins.” 

“ I had a fine time,” answered Roy. “ It was 
my first experience at catching crabs.” 

“ You’re seeing lots of new things, aren’t you?” 

“ Yes, indeed, and they are all interesting. 
Sometime I hope you will be willing to show me 
your engines.” 

Mr. Anderson’s face lighted up like a child’s. 
“ Would you really like to see them? ” he asked. 

“ Indeed I would, Mr. Anderson. I want to 


138 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


learn everything I can about ships. Sometime I 
may be able to make use of the knowledge.” 

“ That’s the way to get ahead in the world,” 
commented the chief engineer. “ Learn all you 
can about everything. If you are not busy now, 
I’ll be happy to show you the engine room. It’s 
always a pleasure to show things to people when 
they are interested.” 

“ Thank you, Mr. Anderson. I shall be glad 
indeed to see the engine room.” 

They went down into the interior of the ship. 
“ These are the coal-bunkers,” said the chief en- 
gineer, showing Roy the rows of compartments 
where the coal was kept and explaining how it 
was carried to the fire-room by coal-passers. 
The fire-room itself seemed like a furnace to Roy, 
but Mr. Anderson said it was quite cool, for some 
of the fires had been drawn altogether and most 
of those still burning were banked. 

“If you want to know what heat is,” said Mr. 
Anderson, “ you must come down here some- 
time when we’re making maximum steam pres- 
sure. Then every one of these furnaces is roar- 
ing hot. At that time the only air that gets into 
the fire-room comes down through the ventilators 
and goes up through the furnace. That’s what 
we call forced draught. It keeps the firemen busy 
then to feed the fires and rake the grates clear of 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 139 


clinkers. You can see what beds of coals they 
have to tend.” 

He threw open a furnace door. Even with 
the fire burning low, the wave of heat seemed 
stifling to Roy. 

“ How can they ever stand it to work in such 
heat? ” asked Roy. “ The temperature must be 
terrible here when all your fires are roaring.” 

“ Yes; it gets pretty hot. I suppose the ther- 
mometer touches 150 or 160 degrees at times. 
The men wear thick woolen shirts to protect them 
from the heat. But even so they can’t stand it 
very long at a stretch. They work in four-hour 
shifts.” 

With great interest Roy looked at the huge 
boilers and all the shining machinery. He had 
no idea it required such a great lot of engines to 
run a steamship. 

“ It’s mighty interesting,” said Roy, when 
they had completed their inspection, “ and I am 
very much obliged to you for showing this to me. 
Sometime I want to come down when all your 
fires are going. I’m glad I have seen it all, for 
now it will mean more to me when the ship is at 
sea. I’ll think of you fellows sweating away 
down here in order that the ship may sail safely.” 

“And we’ll think of you, way up in your perch, 
keeping watch and calling help if we need it. 


140 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEBATOB 


It’s a great comfort to know that the Lycoming 
is equipped with wireless. The old boat we used 
to run on had no wireless, and many’s the storm 
I’ve been through when I thought my last minute 
was near. I tell you we have some rough weather 
down here in the Gulf.” 

“ Well,” said Roy ruefully, “ I’m glad you 
don’t agree with the captain about wireless. It’s 
rather discouraging to work in such circum- 
stances. It will help me to do good work to 
think about you fellows down in the engine room.” 

“ Yes,” agreed Mr. Anderson, “ it takes a 
good many men to run a big ship, and every one 
has to do his work well if the ship is to be safe. 
But when you think of the rest of us, don’t for- 
get that the captain is working for you just as 
hard as the rest of us, and perhaps harder. You 
mustn’t let your differences with the skipper 
blind you to his worth. He’s a great sailor. 
Some day you’ll admire him as much as the rest 
of us do. Good-bye. Come again.” 

Roy spent many hours watching the unloading 
of the ship. It was interesting to see the big 
boom draw over the open hatch and the great 
netfuls of freight come slowly up out of the hold 
and swing over the ship’s side and down to the 
wharf. But eventually the scene lost its charm, 
and Roy was glad enough when the purser came 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 141 

along one morning and invited him to take a walk 
along the water-front. They visited a number 
of ships, and Roy saAv several that he had read 
about in the newspapers. Everybody seemed 
glad to see the purser, and Roy did not wonder 
that he had so many friends. They went aboard 
one of the big ships of the Ward Line, and the 
purser made Roy known to the wireless man and 
some of the officers, as he had done on each ship. 

“ You came down just a lap behind us,” said 
the wireless man, whose name was Reynolds, 
“ and you’ll be only a few hours behind us going 
back. I’ll give you a call once in a while and let 
you know what sort of weather is ahead of you.” 

“ Thanks,” said Roy. “ That will be fine.” 

“You should have arrived a day sooner,” said 
Mr. Reynolds, turning to the purser. “ The 
Empress left just twelve hours before you came 
in.” And then to Roy he added, “ Stimson is 
wireless man on the Empress. He’s a bully good 
fellow, and you’ll like him.” 

“ Pshaw! ” exclaimed the purser. “ The cap- 
tain will be sorry to hear that. Funny about 
those two men, isn’t it? ” 

The wireless man nodded and the purser 
turned to Roy, who was wondering what he 
meant. 

“ You know the captain’s brother is in com- 


142 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


maud of the Empress ” he explained. “ She runs 
to Cuba and South America. The two men have 
been sailing to this port for a long time, but they 
haven’t seen each other in ten years. They al- 
ways seem to miss each other. Their schedules 
just don’t quite overlap, and both are such blame 
good sailors they’re always on schedule.” 

“ You bet they’re good sailors,” said Mr. 
Reynolds with emphasis. “ You’re a lucky fel- 
low to start your life afloat with such a com- 
mander as Captain John Lansford. He’s easily 
the best commander your line possesses, and I 
rate him as the best sailing into Galveston. He 
wouldn’t be commodore of the Confederated 
Lines if he weren’t a cracker jack, you can bet, 
and he wouldn’t be in charge of their newest and 
finest boat. But his brother is a close second.” 

Roy made no reply. He had no idea his com- 
mander ranked so high. Presently they said 
good-bye to Mr. Reynolds and continued on up 
the water-front. They visited a number of great 
warehouses, had a look inside a grain elevator, 
and went aboard several more ships. Altogether 
Roy met eight or ten wireless operators. He felt 
grateful to the purser for making him acquainted 
with these men. He foresaw that it would make 
his work much more pleasant. When they came 
back to the ship the day was almost ended. Roy 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 143 


noticed that the big boom was no longer working, 
but had been made fast again. Evidently the 
ship was unloaded. Next day they would begin 
to take on cargo. Excepting for a few small 
shipments of stuff from Mexican ports, the cargo 
would consist almost wholly of cotton. 

The instant Roy set eyes on his commander 
the next morning, he knew something was wrong. 
From the purser he soon learned that the cotton 
train that was bringing the Lycoming's cargo 
had been wrecked, and would be many hours late, 
if not indeed whole days behind time. There 
was considerable cotton in the warehouse, but 
nowhere nearly enough to fill the Lycoming's 
capacious holds. 

The Mexican stuff was put aboard first. 
There were logs of mahogany, bags of coffee, 
bundles of crude rubber, quantities of cocoanuts, 
and bales of hemp. These were stowed in the 
very nose of the ship. Then the colored roust- 
abouts began to load the cotton. 

Roy had been astonished at the work done by 
the stevedores in New York. He was simply 
amazed at the herculean labors of the dusky 
cotton handlers. From the far end of the great 
warehouse, they came trundling the huge cotton 
bales, each weighing approximately five hundred 
pounds, on their little barrel trucks. But what 


144 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


astonished Roy was the way they shot their great 
loads into the ship’s hold. The tide was at ebb, 
and the Lycoming's open ports were far below 
the level of the wharf. Down a steep gangway 
cut into the pier itself went the roustabouts, one 
behind another in a constant stream, each riding 
the handles of his truck to lessen the speed as his 
heavy load fairly shot down the incline. By the 
time the truck plunged through the open port its 
momentum was terrific. Yet the roustabout re- 
gained his footing, and guided the fast-moving 
truck to one side with incredible skill, often turn- 
ing it at a sharp angle. For a long time Roy 
watched the ceaseless procession of cotton bales 
shoot into the Lycoming's hold. At first he 
hardly breathed for fear a truck would upset as 
it made the sharp turn, and those behind it come 
crashing into it, probably mutilating, if not kill- 
ing outright, the roustabouts that guided them. 
But truck after truck came plunging down, one 
close behind another, while the returning freight 
handlers as ceaselessly pushed their empty trucks 
up the other side of the gangway. It seemed to 
Roy that an accident must happen. Yet minute 
after minute passed and the procession of cotton 
bales continued without interruption. 

For an hour Roy watched the roustabouts, his 
wonder at their strength and skill increasing 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 145 

minute by minute. Finally he decided that he 
would ask Mr. Young to show him the wheel- 
house and the officers’ quarters. He had hardly 
reached the main stairway, however, before a 
revenue officer came bustling aboard and de- 
manded to see the Lycoming's commander. 
Sam, the steward, carried the officer’s message up 
to the captain’s cabin, and a moment later Cap- 
tain Lansford came striding down the stairway. 

The revenue officer greeted him with great 
politeness. “ I’m sorry to tell you, Captain 
Lansford,” he said, “ that we are in receipt of a 
tip that a quantity of whiskey has been smuggled 
into this port from Mexico in bales of hemp. I 
have traced the bales and find they have been 
loaded aboard the Lycoming. I’m sorry, sir, 
but I’ll have to examine those bales.” 

The captain gave an exclamation of disgust. 
“ Where are those bales stowed? ” he asked, turn- 
ing to the officer in charge of loading. 

“ Forrard, sir, in the very nose of the ship.” 

“ Can we get at them easily? ” 

“ There are a few hundred bales of cotton piled 
on top of them and behind them.” 

“ The dickens ! ” snorted the captain. “ Get 
’em out, and be quick about it.” 

Instantty word was passed to the roustabouts 
to stop loading and take their trucks into the 


146 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

hold. But the roustabouts could not shift the 
cargo fast enough to suit Captain Lansford. 

“ Get your donkey-engine ready to hoist those 
hemp bales out,” he ordered. 

The engine had been stowed forward. Skids 
were put under it, the engine was shifted into 
position, the belt slipped on, and the foremast 
derrick-boom unlashed and coupled up with the 
engine. 

Meantime the roustabouts had been taking the 
cotton bales from the nose of the ship and truck- 
ing them aft of the forward hatch, where they 
dumped them down without order. The result 
was that the forward hold speedily filled and the 
cotton began to pile up under the hatchway. 

When Captain Lansford noticed it he ex- 
ploded with anger. “ Get those bales out of 
that,” he shouted at the roustabouts. “We want 
the hatchway clear for hoisting.” 

Not all the cotton had yet been removed from 
the forehold and the way aft was blocked by the 
cotton that had been thrown helter-skelter by the 
roustabouts. 

“ Start your engine,” called the captain, “ and 
jerk some of those bales out on deck.” 

The donkey-engine was started and bale after 
bale lifted to the deck, while the roustabouts be- 
low were struggling desperately to shift the bales 


THWAETING A WIEELESS INCENDIAEY 147 

away from the hatchway. In the haste the cotton 
was handled recklessly. Some of the metal bale 
straps were broken, the white, snowy contents 
bulging out of the sacking like pop-corn swelling 
out of an overfilled popper. But finally all the 
cotton was got out of the road. The deck about 
the hatchway was piled high with it, and the hold 
near the hatch was heaped with disorderly piles 
of it. 

Next the bales of hemp were trucked to the 
hatchway and hoisted, one by one, to the deck. 
Eagerly the revenue officer attacked them, cut- 
ting bands, tearing out handfuls of the long, dry 
fibres, and probing in the hearts of the bales. 
Soon the deck was littered with loose hemp fibres 
and wads of cotton, that the stiff breeze blew 
about in little clouds. Bale after bale was torn 
open, but though he searched every bale, the 
revenue officer found no smuggled whiskey. In 
great mortification he apologized to the captain 
for his interference with loading operations. 
Roy was surprised at the captain’s reply. 

“ You were merely doing your duty,” he said, 
“and no apologies are necessary. Have a cigar — 
a real Havana — sent me by my brother — and not 
smuggled, sir.” And the captain opened his cigar 
case and extended it to his visitor. 

“ Well, wouldn’t that jar you? ” said Roy to 


148 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


himself. “ I expected to see some fireworks and 
here he hands the revenue man a good cigar. I 
noticed one thing. He said it was all right be- 
cause the man was doing his duty. Maybe there’s 
hope for me after all.” 

The revenue officer went away. Captain 
Lansford ordered the cargo stowed again and 
went to his quarters. Mr. Young took charge, 
and soon the roustabouts were putting the ship 
to rights again. Roy lingered to watch them. 

First of all the hemp bales had to go back in 
place. Cords were brought and the bales tied up 
in the best way possible. But it was not prac- 
ticable to replace the torn-out fibres. One by 
one the hemp bales were lowered into the hold. 
The cotton bales followed. Roy noticed that 
when these great quarter-ton packages rose 
above the deck they climbed aloft jerkily and he 
saw that the belt on the donkey-engine was 
slipping badly. For several minutes he watched, 
then walked over to the donkey-engine to see 
what was wrong. Cotton bales were piled all 
about and he had to edge his way between them 
and the whirling belt. Suddenly the wind lifted 
his hat. He grabbed for it, then jumped back as 
though he had been jabbed with a pin. 

“ I must have been scraped by the moving 
belt,” thought Roy. But a second later he 


THWABTING A WIBELESS INCENDIABY 149 

muttered, “ Why, a belt couldn’t have felt like 
that through my clothes ! Wonder what it was.” 

Curious, he again pressed close to the belt and 
again something stung him. 

“ Electricity,” thought Roy. “ That slipping 
belt is generating electricity.” 

Then he thought of the cotton. A glance 
showed him a ragged bale with a metal strap 
broken in two places, and one jagged end sway- 
ing close to the moving belt. Across the bale, 
and lying fairly on the broken metal band, rested 
a chain that had been flung there to clear the 
deck. Its lower end dangled across the metal 
frame of the hatchway. The thought of fire 
flashed through Roy’s head. A spark leaping to 
the broken band as it had leaped to his body, 
might ignite the ragged bale. The litter of 
cotton and hemp fibre, swirling in the wind and 
falling through the hatchway, would carry the 
flames like tinder to the heart of the ship. 

“ Mr. Young,” shouted Roy. “ Get that bale 
away quick! ” 

But even as he spoke a spark leaped across the 
break in the bale strap. A second spark might 
fire the bale. There was no time for words. 
Roy leaped to the belt and frantically tore it 
loose. The donkey-engine began to race at ter- 
rible speed. The bale in mid-air came tumbling 


150 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

down on the heaped-up cotton, bounced to the 
deck, and landed fairly against the racing donkey- 
engine. With a crash that jarred the ship the 
engine overturned. Snap! went the piston-rod. 
Then the machine lay still. 

Roy was aghast. He turned to the first of- 
ficer to explain. The captain, aroused by the 
noise, came running down the stairway. His 
face grew black as he surveyed the ruin. 

“ What does this mean? ” he demanded, turn- 
ing to Mr. Young. 

But before the first officer could speak, Roy 
stepped in front of the captain. 

“ I did it to prevent fire, sir,” he said. 

The captain exploded with wrath. “ What 
do you mean by interfering with the operation of 
the ship? ” he said fiercely. “ If there was dan- 
ger of fire, why didn’t you notify the officer in 
charge? ” 

“ I did try to, sir, but there wasn’t time. The 
belt was generating electricity and the broken 
bale strap was already charged with it. I saw 
one spark, and if I hadn’t thrown the belt off the 
engine the cotton might have been afire in a sec- 
ond. With all this litter on deck, the wind blow- 
ing so hard, and the hatchway open, the ship 
might have burned. I’m sorry I broke the en- 
gine, sir, but I acted to save the ship.” 


THWARTING A WIRELESS INCENDIARY 151 

“All nonsense. Who ever heard of a donkey- 
engine belt making sparks. Don’t you ever dare 
to interfere with operations on shipboard again. 
Go to your quarters. And in future try to con- 
trol your imagination.” 


CHAPTER X 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 

A FEW minutes later the purser stepped 
quietly into the wireless house. Roy sat 
before his operating table, his head bowed on his 
extended arms. 

“ Cheer up! ” called the purser. “ This won’t 
do at all. Tell me what has happened.” 

Roy recounted the entire incident. As the 
recital continued, the purser’s face became as 
sober as Roy’s had been. 

“ I don’t know a thing about electricity,” he 
commented, when Roy had concluded his brief 
description of what had occurred. “Are you 
very sure that you are correct? ” 

“Absolutely, Mr. Robbins. You see, the belt 
on the donkey-engine was slipping. I noticed 
that at the start. The slipping of the belt pro- 
duced undue friction and that, in turn, de- 
veloped frictional or static electricity. The more 
the belt slipped, the more it became charged with 
electricity. Finally the belt became so highly 
charged that the electricity jumped to the sway- 
152 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


153 


in g end of the broken bale strap. This bale strap 
was broken into two pieces. The end swaying 
caught the charge as it leaped from the belt and 
a second spark occurred when the charge leaped 
the other gap in the strap. This last part of the 
strap was grounded by the chain that ran down 
to the metal frame of the ship. So there was a 
perfect mechanism for making and discharging 
electricity. As long as the belt continued to slip, 
electricity would have been generated. And 
every time the current was discharged, there 
would have been a spark right in that loose cotton 
where the bale was broken open.” 

“ I don’t know a thing about electricity, as I 
told you. But if you say it was so, I have no 
doubt it was.” 

“ It’s just like electricity in the skies,” ex- 
plained Roy. “ You have often seen lightning, 
Mr. Robbins. Lightning is only electricity 
leaping from a cloud to the earth or to another 
cloud. We usually have lightning in hot weather. 
Then the heated air from the earth rushes up- 
ward with such velocity that it generates elec- 
tricity, charging the clouds with it, just as that 
whirling belt was charged by the friction of the 
wheel. That electricity has to reach the earth. 
When the potential is high enough, the current 
leaps from the cloud to the earth and a spark 


154 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


occurs which we call lightning. Sparks are made 
only when an electric current is interrupted in its 
flow and has to jump a gap. Electricity is flow- 
ing through a telegraph-wire all the time, but 
there is no spark because there is no break in the 
wire. But if the wire should be cut and the ends 
held near together, the current would jump the 
gap, making a spark as it leaped. That’s the 
thing that makes it possible to have automobiles. 
Electric currents run from the magneto, which 
generates them, to the spark-plugs in the cylin- 
ders. There the currents have to leap tiny gaps 
and sparks result, which explode the gasoline 
vapor. There are several ways to generate elec- 
tricity, but the current, once generated, always 
follows the same laws. Yet I couldn’t make the 
captain understand. In fact he wouldn’t give 
me an opportunity to explain. I tried to do my 
duty by the ship, and now I’m worse off than 
ever. The captain will never have a bit of use 
for me after this. I suppose I’ll not only lose 
my berth at the end of my three months, but he’ll 
make such an unfavorable report about me that 
I’ll never have another chance.” 

“ Don’t you worry about that, Roy. Leave 
it to me. I know the captain like a book and I 
know how to fix things up. I don’t wonder you 
feel as you do about Captain Lansford, but when 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


155 


you really know him, you’ll feel differently. He 
has his peculiarities, like the rest of us, and one 
of them is his utter hatred of what he terms new- 
fangled ideas. The greatest pride of his life is 
the fact that in thirty years at sea he has never 
lost a man or a ship. If some one can show him 
that you probably saved his ship from destruc- 
tion, he’ll have a very different idea of both you 
and wireless telegraphy.” 

“ But he won’t listen to any explanation,” said 
Roy, mournfully. 

“ Leave that to me. I know how to fix him. 
Meantime, continue to do your work as faith- 
fully as you know how. Forget that you are 
working under Captain Lansford and remember 
that you are working for the welfare of the Ly- 
coming. If you do that, you can’t fail in time to 
win the captain’s good-will. That’s his test of 
every soul aboard — whether or not they are work- 
ing for the good of the ship. 

“ When you threw off the engine belt and the 
engine was broken, you hit the captain harder 
than you understood. He has a wonderful 
record for sailing on time. We’re behind with 
our loading now. When that cotton train does 
arrive, the captain will drive every soul like mad. 
We were short-handed when we left New York. 
The captain has taken on four men here at Gal- 


156 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


veston, but he doesn’t like their looks. If they 
aren’t any better than they appear, he might as 
well not have hired them. But what is most 
likely to delay us is the relative scarcity of roust- 
abouts. But if it’s humanly possible, he’ll be 
loaded on time. The loss of the donkey-engine 
may interfere very seriously with loading opera- 
tions. You never can tell when you are going to 
need it. The thought of that and not the mere 
injury to the engine is what made him so angry. 
But remember this, Roy. Everything con- 
sidered, the captain handled you very gently. I 
know it was because he realized that you were 
sincere in your belief that you were acting for 
the good of the ship. He didn’t believe a word 
you said about the electricity. He thought you 
imagined that you saw sparks. But wh ether you 
believe it or not, he gave you full credit for try- 
ing to do your duty.” 

“ He took a mighty queer way of showing it,” 
said Roy, ruefully. 

“ He’s a queer man, Roy. But he’s abso- 
lutely honest and absolutely just. His trouble 
is to see past his prejudices.” 

“ Then how are you ever going to make him 
understand about the donkey-engine? ” 

“ Leave that to me, Roy. I know how to 
manage it.” 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


157 


But if the purser did know, he apparently for- 
got all about the matter. At least so it seemed to 
Roy. Hours and even days passed with no fur- 
ther reference to the affair by the purser, who was 
again busy, and with no change in Captain Lans- 
ford’s grim attitude toward Roy. It even 
seemed to Roy as though the captain avoided 
meeting him, and Roy could interpret that only 
as meaning that the captain was still angry with 
him and was annoyed at the sight of him. In 
consequence, Roy was miserable, particularly be- 
cause he thought the purser had failed him. That 
hurt, for Roy still suffered from boyish im- 
patience. He thought that the purser, if he 
could remedy the matter at all, should be able to 
fix it overnight. 

Meantime, the process of loading went on 
apace. The warehouse was emptied and every 
possible preparation made to rush the loading 
when finally the belated cotton train arrived. 
Roy had watched with wonder the way the ship 
was loaded in New York, but he was simply 
astounded at the way the work went here. He 
had always heard that southern darkies were in- 
dolent; but there was nothing indolent about 
these strapping, dusky roustabouts. They 
seemed as tireless and tough as army mules. 
Hour after hour they worked at top speed, shoot- 


158 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


ing the cotton bales into the Lycoming' s hold in 
an uninterrupted stream and at a pace that was 
past belief. Extra pay was offered them to work 
over-hours, and by the aid of numerous electric 
lights the work continued until well into the night. 
Very early in the morning work was resumed. 
So it went until the last bale was aboard. The 
cargo was safely stowed and the hatches battened 
down before the sailing hour had arrived. 

Again Roy had to admit to himself that what 
seemed impossible had once more been achieved 
and that it had been accomplished by the captain. 
Lovable he was not. But something about him 
was so big and strong, so dominating, so over- 
powering, that his spirit seemed to communicate 
itself to those around him. Roy had often heard 
of magnetism, without exactly understanding 
what it was. Now that he actually saw it, he did 
not recognize it as magnetism. All he knew was 
that the captain, when aroused, seemed so utterly 
to dominate those about him that they became for 
the time being infused with his own spirit. And 
that spirit simply would not admit the possibility 
of failure. To Captain Lansford the word “ if ” 
was unknown. 

Long before the loading was completed the 
last passenger was aboard, and there was noth- 
ing to prevent the Lycoming from casting off on 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


159 


the stroke of the hour. As sailing time ap- 
proached, Roy once more found himself busy. 
As usual, there were messages to send for pas- 
sengers and more or less routine work to be done 
in connection with the departure of the ship 
itself. 

By this time Roy’s shyness was beginning to 
wear off. On the trip down he had purposely 
kept aloof from passengers, and except for the 
first officer, the chief engineer, and the purser, he 
had made few friends. Now he felt more at 
home. He had become familiar with his duties 
and his position. He knew what was expected 
of him. Naturally of a friendly disposition, he 
was glad that his position permitted him to know 
the various members of the crew and the pas- 
sengers. Of the men in the fire-room and the 
sailors he saw little ; but he now tried to cultivate 
the acquaintance of the other officers and of some 
of the passengers. His sunny disposition and 
natural brightness soon made him a general fa- 
vorite. Had it not been for the captain’s uncom- 
promising attitude toward him, Roy would have 
been quite happy. He felt that he was succeed- 
ing in his work, and he could feel that those about 
him liked him. But it still hurt him to think that 
the purser had failed him. 

On the first day out Roy was late in answering 


160 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


the dinner call. As he passed the captain’s table, 
on the way to his own, some one whispered au- 
dibly, “ There he is now.” A score of persons 
looked around as Roy made his way to his own 
seat. Hardly had he settled himself in his chair 
before the purser’s voice rang out from a near-by 
table. It was so unlike the pleasant-mannered 
purser thus to talk in loud tones that Roy was 
astonished. He paused to listen, as everybody 
else seemed to be doing. 

Distinctly he heard the purser saying, “ Yes, 
six’, saved the ship by his quick wit. The donkey- 
engine belt was slipping and creating electricity 
by friction. The broken end of a metal cotton 
bale sti^ap swaying close to the belt became elec- 
trified, and the charge leaped across a break in 
the strap, like a spark jumping the gap in a 
spark-plug. Thei’e was no end of cotton and 
hemp fibres swirling about in the wind, and the 
spai’k itself occurred in some loose cotton that 
had bulged out of the bale when the metal strap 
bi'oke. It was bi’oad daylight and nobody saw 
the spark but the wireless man. He was watch- 
ing for it. He knew that sparks would continue 
to flash as long as the belt kept on generating 
electidcity and that another spai'k might set the 
cotton afire. The chief engineer says it’s a mir- 
acle that the cotton didn’t catch. If it had, the 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


161 


flames would have spread like lightning with all 
that loose stuff about and the wind blowing half a 
gale. Fire would have been in the hold before 
anybody could have said Jack Robinson, and 
nothing short of a miracle could have saved the 
ship. For there was no steam up to fight the 
flames with. The chief engineer says that if Mr. 
Mercer hadn’t acted so promptly, the Lycoming 
would certainly not have been sailing to-day, to 
say the least.” 

During this recital the dining-saloon had be- 
come as still as death. 'Not a knife clinked or a 
glass tinkled. Every other voice was hushed. 
The waiters paused in the aisles, trays held aloft, 
until the purser concluded his recital. Speaking 
as though to his own table only, the purser was 
really addressing everybody in the dining-saloon. 
Every one could hear him plainly and distinctly, 
including Captain Lansford. Like everybody 
else he listened carefully, but his face was inscru- 
table. 

When Roy realized that the purser was talking 
about him his cheeks flamed with embarrassment. 
He bent his head and kept his eyes fastened on 
his plate. As the purser continued his story, hot 
anger came into Roy’s heart. It was quite bad 
enough for the purser to fail to make an effort to 
straighten out the matter with Captain Lansford. 


162 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

But for the purser to humiliate him merely for 
the sake of making a telling story was unforgiv- 
able. For Roy could not conceive why the 
purser should mention the matter before the en- 
tire company of passengers unless it were that he 
wanted to tell a striking story. Angry, confused, 
embarrassed, Roy wanted to flee from the dining- 
saloon. But he could not do so without making 
himself conspicuous. There was nothing to do 
but go on with his dinner. So angry and con- 
fused that he hardly knew what he was putting 
into his mouth, Roy tried to eat. But no sooner 
had the purser stopped speaking than scores of 
eyes were focused on Roy, and from every part 
of the room complimentary remarks were flung 
at him. Then somebody cried, “ Speech ! Let’s 
hear from Mr. Mercer himself!” The cry was 
taken up and the dining-saloon rang with the 
summons, “ Speech! Speech! Tell us more 
about it, Mr. Mercer.” 

Roy was paralyzed with embarrassment. He 
had done nothing remarkable, nothing out of the 
ordinary, and to be made a hero under such cir- 
cumstances was humiliating. In fact, in his wor- 
riment, Roy had almost come to the conclusion 
that the captain must be right and that far from 
being a hero he was only a troublesome meddler. 

“ Speech! Speech!” continued the cries. 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


163 


But Roy was dumb to all appeal. He looked 
at his plate in silence and his face flamed like fire. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen,” cried the purser, 
springing to his feet when he saw Roy’s embar- 
rassment, “ Mr. Mercer is a man of deeds, not 
words. Every one of us from the captain down 
will feel safer because he is aboard. He evi- 
dently does not want to talk and we shall not 
make him. I owe him an apology for putting 
him in such an embarrassing position. I’ll punish 
myself by making a speech for him.” 

The purser was both a ready and a witty 
speaker and for several minutes he kept the 
diners laughing at his good jokes. That gave 
Roy time to regain his composure. By the time 
the purser’s little speech was ended Roy was 
quite himself again. When those seated at his 
table turned to congratulate him he talked to 
them frankly and without embarrassment, but re- 
fused to discuss the incident the purser had de- 
scribed. Numbers of people spoke to him when 
the dinner was ended. Roy was glad when he 
could escape and seek the seclusion of the wireless 
house. 

Yet he felt far from being hurt or mortified, as 
he considered the matter calmly in the seclusion 
of his own room. Every word that the purser 
had said was true. The engine belt was generat- 


164 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


in g electricity. He had prevented a fire by his 
action. Of that he had not the slightest doubt. 
But there was nothing in what he had done that 
was in any sense heroic or that deserved especial 
mention. 

Any one else, seeing the danger, would have 
acted to save the ship. The sole difference be- 
tween himself and others who were on the scene 
was that he had realized the danger and they had 
not. But he could claim no credit for that. He 
was trained in electrical matters and would have 
been a poor wireless man, indeed, if he had not 
detected the danger. 

The only question was whether or not he had 
done his part well after discovering the danger. 
Roy thought the matter over carefully. He 
could not see that there was anything else he 
could have done. And that belief made him feel 
better pleased about the matter. 

He didn’t want the passengers to consider him 
a hero when he wasn’t a hero. But, on the whole, 
Roy was glad the passengers knew about the 
matter. He wanted to get acquainted with some 
of them and the incident would make that an easy 
matter. But most of all he was glad that the 
story had been told before the captain. It was 
worth the embarrassment he had suffered to know 
that the captain had had to listen to the story 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


165 


whether he wanted to or not, and to hear what 
some of the ship’s officers, including the chief en- 
gineer, thought about the matter. Yes, that cer- 
tainly was worth while. Roy felt that he could 
almost forgive the purser for telling the story, 
since the captain had had to listen to it. 

Suddenly a thought came to Roy. He pon- 
dered a moment over it, then called out in aston- 
ishment and mortification. “ Why, you old 
chump ! ” he said to himself, “ that’s the very rea- 
son the purser told the story — so that the captain 
would have to listen to it. If the purser had 
gone to him with an explanation, the captain 
would have shut him off as he did me when I tried 
to explain. All done for your own good, and 
here you were doubting the purser and feeling 
angry at him for trying to help you. I guess the 
captain was right when he called you a wireless 
infant. Thank goodness, I haven’t had a chance 
to say anything to the purser, or I’d probably 
have proved to him that I was a wireless fool as 
well. You bet I won’t forget this lesson — or the 
purser’s kindness, either.” 

Presently the sober look disappeared from 
Roy’s face and he began to chuckle. “ Slick, 
wasn’t it? ” he muttered. “ I wonder if the old 
dragon realizes that the purser put one over on 
him.” 


166 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


If the captain did realize it, he gave no hint of 
the fact. His treatment of both the purser and 
Roy altered not a whit. But Roy was interested 
to note that before they had been afloat twenty- 
four hours the captain’s steward stepped into the 
wireless house again, and after some conversation 
casually asked for any news Roy had picked 
up. 

Roy had plenty of news to give him. The 
Gulf coast was fairly dotted with wireless sta- 
tions. Brownsville, Port Arthur, Galveston, 
New Orleans, Savannah, Key West, Pensacola, 
Fort Crockett, Fort Dodd, and numerous other 
Marconi or government stations fringed the great 
body of water, some of which would always be 
within reach of the Lycoming. The United 
States Navy station at Guantanamo, the Mar- 
coni stations at Miami, Jacksonville, Cape Hat- 
teras, and Virginia Beach, the navy stations at 
Charleston and the Diamond Shoals light off 
Hatteras, and the army stations at Fort Moultrie 
and Fortress Monroe, were only a few of the land 
stations that would likewise be within communi- 
cating distance at some period of the journey. 
Ship stations by the dozen would be within call 
during the voyage, for there was a constant pro- 
cession of ships up and down the Atlantic coast — 
ships sailing to or from home ports along the 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


167 


ocean and the Gulf, vessels for Mexico, and Cen- 
tral America, and Cuba, and steamers bound for 
South American ports or destinations on the Pa- 
cific via the Panama Canal. 

Some of the stations would always be within 
reach even though two hundred and fifty to three 
hundred miles was about the limit of Roy’s call- 
ing distance by day. When the atmosphere in- 
terfered or thunder-storms were kicking up an 
aerial disturbance, he was sometimes unable to 
talk more than half that distance. Even the 
slightest things made a difference — the tempera- 
ture, the nocturnal dampness, the contour of the 
earth when talking to land stations, the level 
spaces over the ocean. At the outside he could 
not talk more than three hundred miles by day. 
But at night, when he got “ freak ” workings, he 
could sometimes send a thousand miles and re- 
ceive twice that distance. On more than one oc- 
casion Roy had already distinctly caught the Ar- 
lington weather signals, here in the Gulf, and 
once he had picked up messages sent by the Trop- 
ical Radio Telegraph Company, from its station 
on the Metropolitan tower in New York to its 
station in New Orleans. 

On the second night out Roy sat at his post, 
listening in. Voices were coming through the air 
from every direction. It was a wonderful night 


168 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOB 


for radio communication and Roy could hear 
farther than he had ever heard before. Behind 
him he could distinguish both the Marconi sta- 
tions at Galveston and at Fort Crockett, farther 
up the island. The army post at Brownsville 
was relaying a message from El Paso to the 
Panama Canal. Roy wondered if it would carry 
successfully over that great stretch of land and 
water. The Charleston Navy Yard was flinging 
out a call for the destroyer Mills , and finally an 
answer came back from a point near Key West. 
The Mills was ordered to proceed to Guantanamo 
to coal. The navy operator at Key West was 
talking to Havana. Behind him Roy could hear 
the Mallory liner Lampasas sending private mes- 
sages for passengers. The Ward liner Morro 
Castle was talking somewhere in the mist to the 
eastward. The Clyde liner Cherokee , off to the 
southeast, was calling for her sister ship Co- 
manche . Along the South Atlantic coast regular 
processions of ships were moving in two lines, 
some going north, others coming south, and all 
talking at once. Distinctly Roy heard the call 
signals and answers of the Ward liner Monterey , 
the Mallory liner Comal the Standard Oil boat 
Caloria , the Red D liner Caracas , the Savannah 
liners City of Atlanta and City of Augusta, and 
the Florida of the Texas Company. He could 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


169 


even hear, far to the north, the Old Dominion 
liner Jamestown } and the Merritt-Chapman 
Wrecking Company’s Rescue . 

But what most interested Roy was the nightly 
news-letter flung abroad at the usual hour by the 
New York Marconi station. It was easily 
twelve hundred miles away, yet Roy could hear 
every word distinctly. The captain would be in- 
terested in this, and Roy picked up a pencil and 
jotted down the night’s news: “ Three- thousand- 
peasants - are - massacred - by - Hungarian - Reds — 
stop — Soviet - guard -shoots-and-hangs-revolters- 
at- Oldenburg — stop — Hungarian -Reds- beat- 
back -Czechs — stop — Pressburg- threatened — 
stop — Wilson-may-sail-in-ten-days — stop — Pre- 
miers - near - agreement — stop — Wilhelm - likely- 
to-escape-trial-envoys-think — stop — Punishment- 
of - ex-Kaiser- is-dead-issue — stop — French-will- 
try - Cavell - betrayer — stop — - Hurley - asks - six - 
hundred - millions- to - finish - ships — stop — Says* 
Burleson-makes-United-States-pay-for-strike — 
stop — Telegraphers’ - leader - says - people - must - 
stand-cost — stop — Victor -Berger -says -chaos - 
ahead— stop — Prosecution - of - socialists - will- 
bring- direct - action — stop — Britain - stirred- by- 
rumors-of -modifiecl-peace — stop — N icaraguans- 
ask - United - States - to - send - troops - to - prevent- 
threatened -invasion- from- Costa- Rica- by- army- 


170 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

now- massed- on- border — stop — F irst-state-will- 
ratify-national-suffrage-amendment-this-week — 
stop.” Then came the stock-market report and 
the baseball scores. 

Roy took down every word. Hardly had he 
finished writing when a sound struck his ears that 
momentarily stopped his heart. 

“ SOS,” came the signal, clear and distinct. 
“ SOS, SOS.” It was the international signal 
of distress. 

Other ears than Roy’s caught the cry for help 
and in a second a hundred operators were fairly 
yelling encouragement through the air. 

“ Who are you? Where are you? Give us 
your location? What is the matter? ” 

It was a ship Roy did not know. She lay well 
out in the Atlantic, and not in the usual steam- 
ship lanes. She had broken her shaft and was 
wallowing helplessly, unable to make repairs. 
^The barometer was going down and she wanted 
to be helped to port. The nearest ships were 
those in the west-bound lanes for transatlantic 
liners. Presently Roy heard the navy station at 
Arlington asking a west-bound liner to go to the 
ship’s assistance. 

J ust as Roy was about to lay aside his receivers 
for the night he heard the Lycoming's call, clear 
as a bell. It was Reynolds, the wireless man he 


A LESSON IN DIPLOMACY 


171 


had met in Galveston. Reynolds’ ship was off 
Jacksonville. He reported the weather as threat- 
ening and the sea rising, with a storm coming 
from the north. 

“ Where are you? ” asked Reynolds. 

“ In the Florida Straits,” replied Roy. 

“ You’ll catch it sometime to-morrow prob- 
ably,” flashed back Reynolds. “ Good luck to 
you. Look me up when you reach New York. 
Good-night.” 

It was now quite late. Unless the captain was 
on watch, he was doubtless asleep. Roy was in 
doubt as to what he should do, but finally decided 
to take the news to the officer in charge. He was 
the proper official to know about the approaching 
storm. Roy copied down his weather-report and 
the night’s news-letter, and made a note of the 
SOS call and the communication from Reynolds. 
Then he sought the bridge. 

Mr. Young was in charge, the captain having 
retired for the night. “ Thank you, Mr. Mercer,” 
he said, as Roy gave him the despatches. Then, 
glancing them over, he went on, “ So it’s getting 
rough off Jacksonville, eh? I knew we were 
heading into a storm. The barometer has been 
falling steadily. It probably won’t be anything 
more than a gale at this season. We’ll be in it 
by noon and perhaps earlier. I am glad to know 


172 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

about it, and I thank you for troubling to inform 
me.” 

“ It’s no trouble,” said Roy. “ I should think 
every navigator would be more than glad to have 
wireless service on his ship. Think of that help- 
less liner out in the Atlantic with a storm coming 
up. Where would she be if she couldn’t have 
summoned help? I can’t understand how any- 
body can feel the way Captain Lansford does.” 

“ There are some things past understanding, 
Mr. Mercer. But perhaps things may happen 
that will change the captain’s mind about wireless 
telegraphy. Good-night.” 

Roy went to his room and to bed, wondering if 
he would ever have the chance suggested by Mr. 
Young, of changing the captain’s attitude toward 
him and his work. He thought of the ship out 
on the ocean, lying helpless in the path of the 
coming storm, and wondered if the opportunity 
he longed for would come with that same storm. 
He was a long time getting to sleep. Finally 
his eyelids closed, but before they did Roy was 
dimly conscious that the ship was rolling more 
than she had since he had been a member of her 


crew. 


CHAPTER XI 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 

I T was long after daybreak when Roy awoke. 

He sat up on the edge of his bunk to look at 
his timepiece, but almost immediately fell back 
on his pillow. Something was wrong with him. 
Roy had had very few illnesses in his life and he 
did not at first know what ailed him. He felt 
sick all over. He heard the ship’s bell strike and 
realized that if he wanted any breakfast he would 
have to hustle. But at the thought of food he 
felt worse than ever. In fact, it seemed as 
though he never wanted to take food again. The 
very idea of it made him feel worse. Then he 
knew what was the matter. He was seasick. 

Presently he got to his feet and punched the 
call bell. Then he lay down again. He became 
conscious that the ship was rolling violently — at 
least the motion seemed violent to Roy, though 
a seasoned sailor would have smiled at the idea. 
Sometimes a lurch of the ship almost threw Roy 
out of bed. The wind was howling about the 
wireless house. Things were rattling and creak- 
ing under its pressure. Rain was falling. Roy 
173 


174 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

was sure that the ship was in the midst of a ter- 
rible and dangerous storm. He wondered if he 
were needed. Then he wondered if he would be 
able to get to his operating table. He felt so sick 
that he was sure he was going to die. 

Then Sam, the steward, appeared. Roy could 
hardly believe his eyes when he saw the venerable 
darky enter his room smiling. Roy didn’t see 
how anybody could smile in such a storm. And 
he said so to Sam. 

“ Lawd bless you, Mr. Mercer,” said Sam. 
“ Dis yere ain’t no great storm. It’s only a little 
gale. Wait till you sees one o’ dem September 
exenoxtail storms. Den you’ll know what a real 
storm am like.” 

Roy felt relieved. “I feel sick enough for 
anything, Sam,” he said. “ I don’t believe even 
an equinoctial storm could make me feel any 
worse. Can you do anything for me, Sam? ” 

“ Lawd bless you, Mr. Mercer, I’ll fix you up 
in no time. Jess you stay in bed till I gets 
back,” and Sam disappeared through the door- 
way. In a few moments he reappeared, with a 
lemon and some concoction he had mixed in a 
glass. Roy gulped the mixture down and pres- 
ently felt somewhat better. After a time he rose 
and dressed, but he did not go near the breakfast 
table. From time to time he sucked at the 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


175 


lemon, as Sam had told him to do. By the mid- 
dle of the forenoon he felt much better. When 
the dinner call came, he decided that he would go 
down to the dining-room and perhaps eat some 
soup. 

He expected to be teased a little, but there was 
almost no one to plague him. Chair after chair 
was empty, only a few seasoned voyagers having 
ventured to the dining-room. The purser was at 
his table, smiling and jolly as usual. It cheered 
Roy merely to look at him. The captain was not 
present and Roy knew he was pacing the bridge. 
However much he disliked Captain Lansford, 
Roy knew that the commander would be found 
at his post of duty in time of stress. But little 
did Roy realize that before his time came to leave 
the Lycoming he would see the day when, of all 
the things for which he was grateful, he was most 
thankful because Captain Lansford was in com- 
mand of the Lycoming. 

By nightfall the ship had run past the storm, 
and b}^ the next day the wind was again blowing 
at a normal velocity, though the water continued 
to be rough. 

The passengers rapidly recovered from their 
seasickness, and left their staterooms. Again the 
decks were peopled with a jolly throng. On the 
sheltered side of the ship and on the after-deck, 


176 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


passengers sat in intimate little groups chatting, 
or in solitary aloofness, noses buried in the latest 
novels or magazines. Steamer chairs were set in 
rows, with indolent old ladies, corpulent men, and 
weary invalids reclining at ease in them. In the 
saloon little knots of passengers were gathered 
about tables playing cards. Games were played 
on the open parts of the deck, such as ring toss, 
and bean bags. Altogether it was a happy com- 
pany aboard the Lycoming. 

As is always the case at sea, formalities were 
forgotten. Acquaintances were easily made and 
before the voyage was half over everybody knew 
everybody else. Roy profited by the opportunity 
and soon was on speaking terms with most of the 
passengers. His uniform was his introduction, 
and after what the purser had said about him, 
everybody was eager to make his acquaintance. 

It was a real opportunity for Roy to cultivate 
social grace, and he realized this. Keen of ob- 
servation, he had long ago noted the great differ- 
ences in manner in different persons. Some, by 
their pleasing way, he saw, charmed and at- 
tracted all with whom they came in contact, like 
the purser. Others, like the captain, seemed to 
repel and offend by their austerity of mien and 
deportment. Aboard ship Roy met all types of 
people and had abundant opportunity to study 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


177 


them and analyze the effects produced by their 
conduct. Most of all he studied the purser. 
Everybody liked the purser, and Roy saw that 
this was invaluable to Mr. Robbins. He could 
deal with more passengers in an hour than some 
men could handle in double that time. And he 
could obtain favors that were denied others. The 
secret of Mr. Robbins’ power, Roy came to be- 
lieve, lay in his kindliness of heart, coupled with 
his invariable cheerfulness and his unimpeachable 
integrity. Roy came to understand that true 
courtesy is merely good-will expressed through 
kindness'. The more he studied people the more 
clearly Roy saw that a man’s manners have much 
to do with his success or failure in life. 

“ If that’s the case,” thought Roy, “ a fellow’s 
a fool not to cultivate a pleasing way. What’s 
the use of working hard to learn a trade or a pro- 
fession or a business and then lose half the ad- 
vantage of that training by lack of proper man- 
ners? ” 

Thereafter he consciously strove to make peo- 
ple like him. That was not a difficult task, for 
Roy was good-looking and both witty and sunny 
in disposition. Before long he found himself a 
general favorite. In a way that troubled Roy, 
for passengers persisted in coming to the wireless 
house, which was contrary to regulations. He 


178 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


had to inform visitors that unless they came on 
business he could not allow them in the wireless 
house. As Roy was popular and everybody 
aboard was interested in him and his work, pas- 
sengers began to send messages merely that they 
might see something of the wireless house. The 
result was a tremendous increase in business — an 
increase which the Marconi people were not slow 
to notice. Thus, although he did not realize it, 
Roy was already profiting by his effort to culti- 
vate charm of manner. 

Swiftly the days went by. The weather con- 
tinued fair and pleasant. Roy remained busy. 
He had many messages to send for passengers 
and at night he continued to take the time and 
weather signals and to jot down the day’s news 
for the captain. Most of all he loved to listen in 
at night when the air was vibrant with wireless 
voices. Every night he talked to Reynolds, and 
soon felt as though they were old acquaintances. 
Behind the Lycoming , Roy soon discovered, were 
some of the vessels he had visited with the purser 
in Galveston. He had many a conversation with 
them before finally the Lycoming , just at dusk, 
drew abreast of the signal station at Sandy 
Hook, and a string of flags was hoisted above the 
Lycoming announcing her safe arrival. The 
flags came fluttering down and Roy knew that 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


179 


the marine observer was probably already send- 
ing out the news that the Lycoming , with cotton 
aboard, had arrived from Galveston. It was 
dark when the ship reached quarantine, and 
dropped her anchor just off the Staten Island 
shore to await a medical inspection in the morn- 
ing. 

The quarantine officials were astir early and 
the Lycoming was soon on her way up the harbor. 
Roy had no work to do, and he came out on deck 
to enjoy the stirring scene. Mr. Young was in 
command, and he invited Roy to join him on the 
bridge. Roy was amazed at the great number of 
ships in the harbor. Never had he seen anything 
like so many. Ordinarily the waters of the up- 
per bay hold but few ships at anchor. Now there 
were vast fleets of anchored ships. Usually, Roy 
knew, tramp ships were almost the only vessels 
to be found anchored in the harbor. But now he 
saw dozens of fine, large ships that were quite 
evidently liners, lying in one or another of the 
various anchorages. He could make out the 
names of some of the vessels, so that he was sure 
he was right. 

“ How does it come,” he asked the first officer, 
“ that these liners lie here at anchor instead of at 
their piers? ” 

“ Because some other ships occupy their piers,” 


180 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


explained Mr. Young'. “ The harbor has never 
seen such congestion as exists now. It is rela- 
tively as crowded as Fifth Avenue on a sunny 
afternoon. So many ships now come to this port 
that it is necessary to have a marine traffic squad, 
j.ust as they have a traffic squad ashore to direct 
land traffic. You have seen traffic policemen at 
the street corners holding up traffic and sending 
it this way and that. If you keep your eyes open, 
you will see the same thing out here on the water. 
Dozens of great liners are arriving daily with sol- 
diers and war supplies and the usual freight of 
commerce. Docking space gave out long ago, 
so the traffic squad regulates the matter of un- 
loading, assigning different docks to the different 
ships as fast as there is room. Sometimes there 
are more than 150 great ships lying at anchor at 
one time. Many of these are craft built since the 
war began. Every night a number of ships ar- 
rive off quarantine, just as we did, and they must 
anchor there until examined by the officials. The 
doctors get to work at six-thirty and the early 
part of the day is a pretty busy time in this har- 
bor. Every morning there’s a regular proces- 
sion of ships steaming up to their piers from 
quarantine.” 

Roy looked behind him and saw several ships 
following the "Lycoming . There were four 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


181 


ahead of the Lycoming , but he had not realized 
what a string of incoming ships there was. Sud- 
denly a swift little craft came darting across the 
water, straight toward the advancing line of 
ships. 

“ There’s one of the patrol boats,” said Mr. 
Young. “ Probably it has directions for some 
of us.” 

The little boat, which was one of seven patrol 
boats directing the traffic, steamed directly to- 
ward the ship immediately ahead of the Lycom- 
ing , turned when abreast of her, and shot close to 
her side. A traffic official shouted something 
through a megaphone and waved his hand toward 
the statue of Liberty. At once the big ship 
swung toward Bedloe’s Island, and in a few min- 
utes Roy heard her chain rattle as she dropped 
her anchor. Meantime, the patrol craft had sped 
past the Lycoming , the man with the megaphone 
directing Mr. Young to proceed to his accus- 
tomed dock. 

“ I’m glad they aren’t going to hold us up,” 
said Mr. Young, as he rejoined Roy. “ We 
might swing at anchor for a week if we ever got 
into that crowd.” 

He waved his hand toward the western anchor- 
age, where a great fleet of ships tugged at their 
anchor chains. 


182 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ Why, there are dozens and dozens of them,” 
exclaimed Roy. “ They seem to be anchored in 
groups.” 

“ Yes. That is to make room for ships to 
pass. You see there is one big group between 
Robbins’ Reef light and the Jersey shore. That 
is an anchorage for general cargoes. Then you 
notice a great pier built out from the Jersey shore 
and the narrow channel leading to it. Just north 
of that channel a little way is the anchorage 
ground for ships loaded with explosives. It is 
just below Black Tom Island, where that awful 
explosion occurred during the war. Above that 
point the anchorage extends north of Ellis Is- 
land. Altogether that’s a space several miles 
long, and it’s just jammed with ships. Over on 
the Brooklyn side and even far up the Hudson 
the anchorages are crowded.” 

“ I’m glad I have seen this,” said Roy. “ It 
is wonderful.” 

“You may well be glad. We used to think 
New York harbor was a pretty busy place before 
the war, but it was dead compared with the pres- 
ent conditions. I don’t know what we’ll do if 
traffic continues to increase the way it has been 
increasing the last few months. The only thing 
that saves, the harbor from utter confusion now is 
the traffic squad. Its power is absolute and we 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


183 


have to do exactly as the patrolmen say. So they 
keep excellent order and prevent all sorts of 
trouble. But I tell you they are strict. It 
doesn’t take much of an offense to bring a fine on 
a ship captain, and for a serious offense he may 
even lose his papers.” 

Just then Captain Lansford came on the 
bridge with a despatch in his hand. “ I will take 
charge, Mr. Young,” he said. Then, turning to 
Roy, he said brusquely, “ Send this.” 

Roy took the despatch from the captain and re- 
turned to the wireless house. There was the 
usual number of messages to send for the passen- 
gers, telling of a safe arrival, and by the time 
Roy came out of the wireless house again, the 
Lycoming lay snug in her dock. Hatches and 
ports were open, and the derrick booms were 
creaking as they hoisted from the hold great 
slingfuls of trunks and other baggage. The 
purser, as usual at such a time, was buried under 
an avalanche of work, and Roy spent the day 
helping him. He had formed a real affection 
for the purser, and was rapidly making himself 
invaluable to that official. Having assisted him 
once before, Roy was now somewhat familiar 
with the purser’s work. The thought that he was 
really helping his friend gave Roy genuine pleas- 
ure. He was so busy and so preoccupied that 


184 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


he did not notice the clamor and racket on the 
pier, as the ship was unloaded, or hear the roar 
and clatter from the water-front. 

Night hushed the discordant noises of the day 
as effectually as though some one had clamped a 
lid down on them. The streets were already de- 
serted and quiet when Mr. Robbins threw down 
his pen and heaved a deep sigh. 

“ There,” he exclaimed, “ that’s a good day’s 
work — a mighty good day’s work. And the 
Bible tells us the laborer is worthy of his hire. 
Get your cap, Roy, and we’ll get something to 
eat. No ship’s grub for us to-night, eh? ” 

They went ashore, caught an up-town subway 
train in a few minutes, and got out at Worth 
Street. A short walk took them through an 
Italian district to Chinatown. Roy had never 
visited Chinatown before. He was so much in- 
terested in what he saw that the purser could 
hardly drag him away from the shop-windows. 
There were wonderful pieces of needlework on 
display, intricate and weird carvings of ivory and 
ebony, curious little trinkets and ornaments of 
jade and semiprecious stones, vases little and 
large, brass trays and ornaments, and a thousand 
other unfamiliar and strange objects. But what 
interested Roy more than anything else was the 
strange foods displayed in the provision shops. 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


185 


There were dried fish, dried fowls, dried meats, 
curious candies made of some gummy substance 
covered with queer little seeds, or dried orange- 
peel or other vegetable growths covered with a 
coating of sugar. There were Chinese cabbages, 
unlike any cabbage Roy had ever seen, for in- 
stead of being round or flat, they were tall and 
urn-like, or even cylindrical. There were curi- 
ous creamy-white little things in big baskets that 
the purser said were bamboo shoots, and water- 
chestnuts that looked like lily bulbs. 

The purser led the way to a restaurant in Pell 
Street. Its atmosphere was so strange and for- 
eign that Roy was almost startled. Heavy, curi- 
ously wrought hangings decorated the walls. 
Great screens, ornamented with elaborate needle- 
work, stood here and there. Dragons and curi- 
ous birds were wrought on them. Grilles of 
elaborately carved ebony divided the dining-room 
into smaller compartments. The little tables 
and the stools about them were of teak-wood or 
ebony, elaborately carved by hand, and very 
heavy. Lustrous banners with heavy dragons 
on them hung here and there. Slit-eyed Chinese 
stood silent and inscrutable in their curious dress, 
ready to take orders. The odor that pervaded 
the place was unlike anything Roy had ever 
smelled. Partly it was the odor of cooking. 


186 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 

partly of incense, partly of tobacco, though Roy 
was not able to analyze it. All he knew was that 
it was as unusual and striking as the bizarre deco- 
rations. 

“ Lots of people would not think of eating in 
a Chinese restaurant/’ said the purser as they 
seated themselves, “ but such a prejudice is un- 
reasonable and foolish. Chinese cooks are clean. 
They are probably the best cooks in the world, 
not even excepting the French, who have such a 
great reputation. You see China swarms with a 
population really too great to be supported by 
the country’s resources. So the greatest thing 
in a Chinaman’s existence is the food problem. 
Everybody learns to cook, and to make delectable 
dishes out of almost nothing. In all the world 
there are no more delicious foods than some the 
Chinese make. As you probably don’t know 
what to order, I am going to take the liberty of 
ordering for us both.” 

The purser called the waiter and ordered 
chicken omelette, fried noodles, a little chop suey, 
a ham omelette, some preserved kumquats, and 
some Chinese candy. He told the waiter to 
bring the dishes one at a time so that they would 
be warm. While the cook was preparing the 
order, the waiter brought two bowls of rice and 
a pot of tea, with sugar and some tiny cups. Mr. 


A TISIT TO CHINATOWN 


187 


Robbins filled the cups and they sampled the 
beverage. Roy had never tasted such delicious 
tea. Nor had he ever seen rice cooked like that 
in the bowls. It was perfectly cooked yet dry 
and flaky. It was not at all the mushy stuff he 
had eaten in American homes. 

“ The Chinese,” explained Mr. Robbins, “ eat 
rice just as we do bread. Most of their dishes 
are more or less greasy or soupy, and the rice 
takes up the gravy very nicely. Chinamen eat it 
with chop-sticks, and they will bring you some if 
you want to try it. But I suspect you will make 
much better weather of it if you use a fork.” 

Roy laughed. “ A fork for mine,” he said. 

Presently the waiter brought a ham omelette. 
Mr. Robbins cut it in half and served it. “ Bring 
the chop suey, too,” he said. 

That was fetched and they fell to. But Roy 
hadn’t eaten more than two bites before he 
stopped and looked at the purser. 

“ That omelette is the best thing I ever 
tasted,” he commented. 

“ Wait till the chicken omelette, comes,” smiled 
the purser. 

They ate the ham omelette and nibbled at the 
chop suey as a side-dish. Then the waiter 
brought the chicken omelette and the fried noo- 
dles. The chicken omelette wasn’t so much un- 


188 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEKATOK 

like a good chicken potpie, but it was more de- 
licious than any chicken dish Roy had ever eaten. 
The noodles were curious little slivers of dough 
fried crisp and covered with gravy. They were 
good, too. Rut Roy was sure he had never 
tasted anything so delicious as the two omelettes. 
He ate until he could hold no more. 

When they left the restaurant Roy thanked 
the purser for the treat. “ I’m obliged to you for 
the food,” he said, 44 hut I’m more obliged to you 
for showing me something new. I might never 
have known about the Chinese way of cooking if 
it hadn’t been for this experience.” 

44 Good! ” smiled the purser. 44 I’m glad you 
put it that way. Lots of people lose a great deal 
of fun and happiness in this life because they 
aren’t willing to try new things. The older we 
get, the worse our prejudices become.” 

Roy’s face grew serious at once. 44 1 should 
say so,” he answered. 44 Look at Captain Lans- 
ford. Why, his ship is a thousand times safer 
because he has a wireless outfit. Yet he doesn’t 
like it at all. It hardly seems possible that any- 
body can be so unreasonable.” 

44 It does not. Yet the world is full of such 
foolish prejudices.” 

44 Well,” sighed Roy, 44 1 hope that I’ll never 
get like that.” 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


189 


“ You won’t if you try not to, Roy. But you 
may if you don’t. You know eternal vigilance is 
the price of liberty. And that applies to mental 
liberty as well as political.” 

They walked slowly back to the ship, passing 
again through the lower end of the down-town 
Italian district. Roy was instantly attracted by 
the names on the shop fronts and the objects 
offered for sale, particularly the oddly-shaped 
and highly-colored candies and pastry. 

“ My, but there are a lot of Italians here,” said 
Roy. “ Almost enough to make a city by them- 
selves.” 

The purser smiled. “ Do you know what is 
the largest Italian city in the world, Roy?” he 
asked. 

“ Rome, I suppose,” answered Roy. 

“ New York City,” said the purser. “ There 
are more Italians here than Rome or any other 
city in Italy ever saw at one time.” 

Roy expressed his surprise. 

“ And there are more Jews here than ever in- 
habited Jerusalem,” continued the purser. 
“ New York has more than 7,000,000 population 
— more people than most of our states contain — 
and among those millions are a great number of 
colonies of foreigners, each large enough to make 
a good-sized city. Some day we’ll make a trip 


190 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

through the Italian sections and try some Italian 
cooking.” 

“ Fine,” said Roy. “ That’ll be my treat.” 

When they reached the ship the purser said 
good-night. Roy went to the wireless house and 
caught the weather-report and listened to some of 
the messages scudding through the air. But 
when he was ready to retire he was as wide-awake 
as he would have been at noon, although it was 
past midnight. The unaccustomed amount of 
tea he had drunk had made him sleepless. It was 
a beautiful, warm June night, and Roy went out 
and sat on the deck to watch the stars and the 
twinkling lights ashore and in the harbor. 

How long Roy sat there he did not know, but 
it was some time after two bells, and the harbor 
was as quiet as it ever becomes, when Roy heard 
the sound of a motor-boat. There was nothing 
unusual in that and Roy would have given the 
matter no thought had not the engine suddenly 
stopped. The sound seemed to have been 
straight out from the Lycoming's pier. Roy at 
once thought that the little craft was suffering 
from engine trouble. He wondered where and 
what it was and if help were needed. Thinking 
he might be able to see its lights, Roy walked to 
the stern and sat down on a life-raft. No lights 
were visible. That did not seem strange, as 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


191 


Roy’s vision was obstructed on either hand by a 
long pier shed. Near the Jersey shore a ferry- 
boat, brilliantly illuminated, was drawing into its 
slip, and Roy almost forgot the motor-boat as he 
watched the distant ferry. 

Then suddenly he sat straight up with a start. 
The sound of oars came to his ears. They were 
dipping slowly and gently in the water and ordi- 
narily such a slight sound would have been indis- 
tinguishable. But the silent, empty pier sheds 
acted as sounding-boards and both magnified and 
reflected the sound. Roy’s first thought was that 
the passengers in the motor-boat had abandoned 
their craft and were coming ashore in a rowboat. 
He wondered how they would make a landing, 
for the doors of the pier sheds were tightly closed. 
Probably, thought Roy, they see the lights of the 
Lycoming and hope to get aboard her. The 
dock between the piers was so dark that Roy 
could hardly see anything in it. He strained his 
eyes but could not make out the boat. He was 
about to call out to it, for he was certain that it 
was in the dock, when it occurred to him that if 
the occupants of the boat were in distress they 
would make their presence known. Then, for 
the first time, he thought of thieves. 

Just then the glowing ferry-boat came directly 
astern of the Lycoming ; and, although it was on 


192 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


the other side of the river, the broad reflection of 
its lights in the water, like a ribbon of gold, 
showed Roy the boat he was looking for. He 
could see it but dimly, yet he was certain that the 
craft below him was the motor-boat itself. Three 
men were in it. One was carefully propelling it 
with long oars, and the attitudes of the two others 
showed that great caution was being observed in 
the approach. 

Roy sat still as an image. He was now fully 
convinced that the men in the boat were thieves. 
What they were after he could not conceive. 
They could not hope to get aboard the Lycom- 
ing, for a sailor was on watch. Nor could they 
hope to break into a pier shed. Roy crushed 
down his desire to raise an alarm and sat silent, 
determined to discover what they were up to be- 
fore he made any move. If the Lycoming were 
their object, he would thwart them. He had not 
long to wait. Very cautiously the motor-boat 
crept near the Lycoming. A long, low whistle 
was heard and all was still again. Then Roy 
heard an indistinct, guarded sound, like the care- 
ful raising of a window, followed by a low whis- 
tle. The motor-boat stole cautiously to the very 
side of the Lycoming . Roy crept to the edge of 
the deck, in order to keep the boat under observa- 
tion, and peered down. Distinctly he could see 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


193 


that one of the lower ports was open and two 
heads were thrust out. Then the heads disap- 
peared and a moment later a small bale of some- 
thing came slowly through the port and was 
seized by the men in the motor-boat. They 
stowed it away in the boat, then turned again to 
the open port. 

Roy had seen enough. It was time for action. 
But what should he do? Roy’s mind worked 
like lightning. If he raised an outcry the thieves 
would start their engine and be off while their 
confederates on the Lycoming would slip back to 
their quarters. If the thieves were to be caught, 
it must be done by stealth. But how? In a sec- 
ond Roy thought of the wireless. 

Cautiously drawing back from the edge of the 
deck, he tiptoed rapidly to the wireless house, 
threw open his switch, and sent forth a call. 

“ KIN — KIN —KIN — WNA,” flashed his 
signal through the night. 

Almost immediately came back the answer, 
“ WNA — III — GA.” It was the police boat 
Patrol replying to Roy’s frantic call. 

“ This is the Confederated liner Lycoming, 
pier 14, North River,” rapped out Roy as fast as 
he could work his key. “ Thieves in motor-boat 
taking stuff from confederates in the ship. 
What shall we do? ” 


194 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ Watch. Raise no alarm until we enter the 
slip.” 

It was no great distance to Harbor A Station 
and Roy knew that the Patrol would be at the 
end of the slip in a short time. He tiptoed down 
the ladder and hurried to the officers’ quarters. 
All was in darkness. He tried the captain’s 
door. It was locked. Roy dared not rap on it 
for fear of alarming the thieves. Mr. Young’s 
door was also fastened. But the second officer’s 
door opened under Roy’s hand. The occupant 
was snoring like a fat hog. Roy shook him by 
the shoulder. 

“ Mr. Adams,” he said softly. “ Wake up. 
Thieves are at work below.” 

The second officer was on his feet in a flash. 
“ Where? ” he demanded, rushing toward the 
door. 

“Wait!” said Roy. “If we want to catch 
them, we mustn’t make a sound. Some of the 
crew are passing stuff out of an open port to men 
in a motor-boat. I’ve called the police and they 
will be here in a minute. They’ll pull into the 
slip and catch the men in the boat and we’ll grab 
the men on the ship. If you have a flash-light, 
put it in your pocket. We’ll need it down in the 
dark hold.” 

“ You watch for the police boat,” said Mr. 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


195 


Adams. “ I’ll get some sailors and be ready to 
grab those fellows in the hold.” 

Roy stole to the deck and cautiously watched 
the dark forms below. His heart beat so loud he 
was afraid the thieves would hear him. Seconds 
seemed like minutes. Time seemed actually to 
stand still, so fearful was he that the thieves 
would get away before the police came. Anx- 
iously he kept glancing at the end of the slip, but 
the Patrol did not come. Meantime, the motor- 
boat was loaded almost to capacity. If the po- 
lice did not arrive soon it would be too late. 
Suddenly Roy became aware that a rowboat was 
stealing along the other side of the slip. It was 
more than half-way in before Roy discovered 
it. The boatmen rowed with muffled oars, but 
came on swiftly. Were they more thieves? 
Roy did not know what to do. It was useless 
to call the police again. Why didn’t they 
hurry? 

Meantime the rowboat came silently on. It 
stole along the far side of the slip until nearly 
opposite the Lycoming , then shot toward the 
motor-boat. Roy was in an agony of uncer- 
tainty. He could do nothing but watch and 
pray for the police to make haste. 

Then suddenly a great light flashed from the 
bow of the rowboat and fell full on the men in 


196 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

the motor-boat. “ Hands up or we’ll shoot,” 
came a stern warning. 

The rowboat was full of policemen. The 
thieves hesitated a second, then raised their hands 
above their heads. The rowboat glided along- 
side the motor-boat, the thieves were skilfully 
searched for weapons, handcuffed, and trans- 
ferred to the police boat. 

Meantime an uproar arose within the ship’s 
hold. There were curses, cries, and blows. But 
the noise soon subsided, for two policemen 
leaped through the open port and helped to sub- 
due the thieves on board. The latter were 
dragged to the deck and there recognized as the 
men who had joined the crew at Galveston. The 
noise had aroused everybody aboard. Captain 
Lansford came running down the stairway, in- 
quiring about the disturbance. 

“We discovered these men passing stuff out to 
some thieves in a motor-boat,” explained Mr. 
Adams, “ and while the police attended to the 
fellows outside, we grabbed those in the hold.” 

Roy, coming down the stairway, heard every 
word. His heart flamed with indignation. Mr. 
Adams had not even mentioned him, but had 
taken full credit for the capture. Roy was not 
seeking for glory, but under the circumstances he 
did want the captain to know the truth. He was 


A VISIT TO CHINATOWN 


197 


almost minded to speak out, especially when the 
captain said, “ Excellent, Mr. Adams. These 
fellows are probably smugglers, and if that 
proves to be the case, you have saved me a lot of 
trouble. I shall remember this.” 

That was high praise from Captain Lansford, 
and Roy’s face burned with indignation as he lis- 
tened. Wisely, however, he held his peace. A 
moment later he was glad he had. The rounds- 
man in charge of the police came on deck and 
asked for the wireless man. When Roy was 
pointed out, he said, “ Young man, I want to 
thank you for the good judgment you showed. 
This is a gang we’ve been after for months, and 
they would have given us the slip again if there 
had been the least alarm. We are obliged to you 
and your captain ought to be more so.” 

Roy’s face flushed again, but this time for a 
far different reason. His heart beat with joy. 
But all the joy faded when the captain, after 
learning the truth, turned to him and said sternly, 
“ Mr. Mercer, in a case of this sort you should 
have notified the commanding officer at once. 
Your failure to do so is inexcusable.” 


CHAPTER XII 


A CLOSE CALL 

P OOR Roy! No matter how hard he tried, 
it seemed, the captain would still be dissatis- 
fied with him. To Roy the captain’s harsh re- 
mark seemed the very essence of injustice. He 
did not desire praise. He neither expected nor 
wished any special consideration. But he did de- 
sire just recognition of his services. If the cap- 
tain was truthful in telling Mr. Adams that the 
capture of the thieves had saved him, Captain 
Lansford, from trouble, then, it seemed to Roy, 
the captain should have thanked him instead of 
reprimanding him. Bitter, indeed, were Roy’s 
thoughts. 

Again it was the kind-hearted purser who 
helped Roy in his difficulty. Like everybody 
else on board, Mr. Robbins was aroused by the 
hubbub. He threw on some clothes and hurried 
to the deck to see what was wrong. There he 
speedily learned about the capture of the thieves ; 
and Sam, the steward, told him of Roy’s part in 
the affair and what the captain had said to Roy. 
198 


A CLOSE CALL 


199 


THe purser waited to hear no more. In an- 
other minute he was in the wireless house. “ I 
hear you have done a fine piece of work, Roy,” 
he said. “ I congratulate you. Everybody is 
talking about it.” 

There was no joy in the face Roy turned to his 
friend. “ Everybody but the captain, perhaps,” 
he sighed. “ He gave me thunder again. Is 
there anything that would satisfy him? I’ve 
worked my head nearly off on this trip and he 
will barely speak to me. Now I have helped 
prevent a theft and if what the captain says is 
true, I have helped keep him out of difficulty. 
And what do I get for it? A reprimand before 
the entire crew.” 

“ How’s that? ” demanded the purser, as 
though it were news to him. “ Tell me what 
happened.” 

After Roy had related the entire incident in 
detail, the purser said sympathetically, “ That 
does seem rough. But perhaps you don’t fully 
understand the captain’s position, Roy. You 
see, he’s responsible for any smuggling that goes 
on in this ship. If smuggling is done and the 
revenue officers discover it, the captain may be 
punished. Naturally, when he is aboard and 
smugglers are discovered at work, he wants to 
know about it. You wouldn’t want a sailor from 


200 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

the forecastle sending out important despatches 
for you, particularly if you were aboard, would 
you? ” 

“ You bet I wouldn’t,” promptly answered 
Roy. “ It might get me into a heap of trouble 
with the Marconi people.” 

“ Well, that’s exactly the way the captain saw 
the matter. What was going on below might 
have gotten him into no end of trouble with the 
government. He was here to handle the matter 
himself. Instead of calling him, a boy with no 
experience attempts to manage the affair. Do 
you see how it appeared to the captain? ” 

“ I do,” said Roy soberly, “ and I don’t blame 
him. But he might at least have asked why I 
didn’t call him. There were reasons why I 
couldn’t.” 

“Ah! That is another matter, Roy. That is 
where the captain was too hasty. It is always 
dangerous to jump at conclusions. But you must 
remember that the captain’s whole training has 
been to act and act quick. When things go 
wrong on a ship or the craft is in danger, the cap- 
tain has to do something and do it quick. When 
you are half a thousand miles from land and your 
ship is in danger of going to the bottom, you can’t 
sit around and think or hold courts of inquiry, 
Roy. You have to do something instantly. The 


A CLOSE CALL 


201 


captain has been doing that for thirty years and 
it has become a habit. J ust wait until we get in 
some tight pinch. You’ll be so glad we have a 
captain aboard who knows what to do and how to 
do it quick that you’ll forgive all the overhasty 
things he does in times of quiet.” 

“ I’m glad you told me all this,” said Roy. 
“ I still think the captain was unjust, but I feel 
differently about the matter. And I’ll feel more 
so if they prove to be smugglers instead of plain 
thieves.” 

“ I don’t believe there’s any doubt about their 
being smugglers. Let’s go down and see what 
the police have discovered.” 

They descended to the deck. The ship’s lights 
had been turned on and the stolen goods hoisted 
aboard. They were small bales of hemp. A 
policeman was breaking one of them open. Roy 
remembered that they had been brought aboard 
with the very first of the cargo and trucked to the 
forward part of the ship. Evidently they had 
immediately been secreted by the four smugglers 
who had joined the crew and were at work in the 
hold. When the policeman had torn away a part 
of the hemp, out rolled a four-gallon can filled 
with liquid. The screw-cap was cautiously re- 
moved and the policeman gingerly sniffed the 
contents. Then a smile spread over his face. 


202 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ It’s the real stuff, Rounds,” he said, passing 
the can to the waiting roundsman. 

The roundsman sampled the liquor. “ The 
very same,” he replied, “ and worth a good many 
dollars a gallon. If the twenty-four bales each 
contain four gallons, we’ve captured two good 
hogsheads of whiskey for Uncle Sam, and saved 
him a nice little sum of revenue. We’ll just take 
the booze along with the prisoners, Captain 
Lansford.” 

“ You are welcome to both,” said the captain. 
“ We’ll make sure there is no more of the stuff 
aboard. If we find any, I’ll let you know. 
Meantime, I’m obliged to you for catching these 
fellows.” 

“ You’d better thank your wireless man, Cap- 
tain. They’d have got away with the stuff sure, 
if it hadn’t been for him. And we’d have missed 
them again.” Then, turning to Roy, the rounds- 
man thanked him warmly. The whiskey and the 
prisoners were put into the captured motor- 
boat, and towing their rowboat behind them, the 
police went chugging back to Harbor A. 

During the days that the Lycoming lay in her 
dock, Roy spent many an hour in sober thought. 
He had had a taste of life afloat now, and more 
than ever he felt sure that he wanted to be a wire- 
less man. He wanted to succeed. He wanted 


A CLOSE CALL 


203 


to reach the very top in his chosen calling. No 
boy was ever more ambitious, ever more willing 
to work hard. Indeed, the unusual quality in 
Roy, the thing that distinguished him from most 
lads of his age, was the fact that he had early 
grasped the idea that the road to success is named 
work. 

Always Roy had done things with a will. 
When he played, he played hard. When he 
studied, he studied hard. And after he had be- 
come interested in radio communication, he had 
striven hard to perfect himself as an operator. 
He understood his instruments perfectly. He 
could make new parts or entire new instruments, 
if given the materials. He could improvise a 
wireless outfit out of next to nothing. He could 
read messages as fast as any human hand could 
send them, and he could himself transmit with un- 
usual speed. In short, despite his youth, Roy 
was an unusually skilful wireless man. 

But he lacked what most boys lack. He lacked 
experience of life and the sane judgment that 
should go with experience. He lacked perspec- 
tive. He was impatient. He could not always 
see matters in their true relationship. 

It was so now as he meditated concerning his 
own situation. He forgot that he had been 
aboard the Lycoming hardly a month. He did 


204 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


not realize that the captain really knew nothing 
concerning his training and ability. He did not 
understand that before a man like Captain Lans- 
ford could place confidence in a subordinate, that 
subordinate would have to prove his entire trust- 
worthiness. And Roy had as yet had no real 
test. His work had so far been all fair-weather 
work. 

But the thing that Roy understood least of all 
was the captain’s actual attitude toward him. 
He thought that the captain disliked him, that he 
felt spiteful toward him, that he was purposely 
trying to humiliate him. Had Roy understood 
the actual situation he might have felt even worse. 
That was, that Captain Lansford was hardly 
conscious that Roy was a member of his crew. 
He was for some reason prejudiced against wire- 
less, and he had for so many years navigated his 
ship without the help of wireless that he gave no 
more heed to the innovation than he would to a 
new plank laid on the deck. Roy’s messages con- 
cerning the weather he took lightly. He had a 
barometer of his own that for thirty years had 
told him all he needed to know about the weather. 
Roy’s news-letters were more or less diverting. 
But the captain had gone without the day’s news 
for so many years that he had no hunger for it, as 
the constant newspaper reader has. It mattered 


A CLOSE CALL 


205 


little to him whether he ever saw a paper or 
not. 

But it did matter about the safety and punctu- 
ality of his ship. No mariner alive was prouder 
of his record, more jealous of his reputation, or 
more determined to keep up his good work. 
Every minute the captain had the welfare of his 
ship in mind. Only those who had proved their 
ability did he trust. He wanted them to prove 
it under his own tutelage, and his was a stern way 
of training recruits. 

Thus it was that while Roy was fretting his 
heart out at what he considered the captain’s dis- 
like of him and injustice toward him, the cap- 
tain was hardly giving Roy a thought. He was 
tolerating him as he tolerated the wireless aerial 
swinging aloft; both had been ordered by the 
owners. 

So Roy’s situation was far from being the 
hopeless one he considered it. The dropping of 
water will wear away even the hardest stone. 
Continued good service was certain to make an 
impression on even Captain Lansford’s stern 
nature. And real service to the ship could not 
fail to impress the captain deeply, since his ship’s 
welfare was the captain’s one passion. 

Could Roy have realized all this it would have 
saved him many a heartburn. He did under- 


206 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

stand, however, that the way to make good in any 
job was through efficient service. So the cap- 
tain’s course, although it hurt and angered Roy, 
really spurred him to greater efforts. Some 
boys, in a similar situation, would have become 
careless and sullen. Roy maintained his courte- 
ous, cheery manner and worked harder than ever. 
He was on his mettle and was determined that he 
would force recognition from his captain. And 
that was the very best attitude he could have 
taken. 

Although it is a long lane that has no turning, 
it seemed to Roy that he was an extremely long 
time in reaching the bend in his particular path. 
Things went on in the same old, uneventful way. 
He took messages and sent them. He faith- 
fully caught the weather-reports, the storm sig- 
nals, and the night’s news. And all these made 
about as much impression on Captain Lansford 
as did the regular turning of one of the piston- 
rods in the engine room. Roy saw that if he were 
going to make a dent in Captain Lansford’s con- 
sciousness, he would have to do something out of 
the ordinary routine. Think as he might, no op- 
portunity seemed to present itself. That made 
Roy keener than ever; and he soon reached the 
point where he spent almost as much time con- 
sidering the welfare of the ship as the captain did. 


A CLOSE CALL 


207 


Everywhere and always he was asking himself 
the question, “ What can I do to help run the 
ship?” 

The period of unloading and loading passed, 
and the Lycoming started south again, but still 
Roy’s opportunity did not come. He chafed un- 
der the placid routine of his life as a captured 
tiger chafes in its cage. 

The turn in the lane was near at hand, how- 
ever, or at least there was a slight bend directly 
ahead. That turn came in the form of a fog. 

Bright skies and a summer sun looked down 
upon the Lycoming as she bade farewell to New 
York and sailed through the Narrows toward the 
open sea. Twenty-four hours later she was 
buried in a fog-bank. A great, gray, swirling 
mass of mist came drifting up from the south, 
cutting off the vision as effectually as a curtain 
hides a stage. In no time everything was wet 
and clammy. Rails, rigging, window-sills, — 
everything was adrip with condensed moisture. 
A raw, damp quality pervaded the atmosphere. 
The barometer was falling and the wind rising. 
To make matters worse, it began to rain. At 
first the rain was hardly more than a heavy mist. 
Then it fell in gentle drops. As the wind rose 
the rain poured downward in torrents, driving in 
sheets before the fitful blasts of the gale. It 


208 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


searched out every crack and crevice, and came 
driving under doors and oozing in under tightly 
closed window-sashes. 

The little wireless house, on the very top of the 
ship, caught the full force of wind and rain. 
Water came under Roy’s door in such a stream 
that he had to mop it up with a rag. At first 
he felt little concern. The sea had not yet risen, 
and the ship was not rolling much, though occa- 
sionally it seemed to stagger before a great gust 
of wind. Having gone through a pretty fair 
gale, Roy saw by comparison that this storm, at 
least as yet, was nothing to feel disturbed 
about. 

But when he looked out of his window, and 
particularly when he opened his door a moment 
later, he felt instant concern. The ship was 
literally swallowed up, buried in the densest bank 
of fog Roy had ever known. He could not see 
in any direction. He could hardly make out the 
ship’s nose with distinctness. Under the buffet- 
ing of the wind the steamer creaked and groaned. 
Windows rattled. Everything that was not 
lashed fast thumped and pounded. The fitful 
blasts whistled in the rigging and shrieked and 
howled about the little wireless house, and the 
roar of the storm almost drowned the sound 
of the fog-horn. If he could not hear the deep 


A CLOSE CALL 


209 


bellow of the Lycoming 3 s great fog-horn, he 
asked himself, how could those on other ships 
hear it? Instantly Roy was alarmed. 

Long ago, he knew well enough, the captain 
had jumped into oilskins and boots and sou’- 
wester and joined Mr. Young on the bridge. 
Into Roy’s mind came a picture of the captain at 
his post, pacing from side to side of the bridge, 
standing rigid, like a pointing setter, as he lis- 
tened with cupped hand to his ear, now on the 
port side, now on the starboard, and all the while 
seeking to pierce with his eagle eyes that vast, 
impenetrable, treacherous mass of fog. In his 
anxiety Roy pulled on his raincoat and stepped 
to the deck to listen. He was blinded by the 
torrent of rain and almost bowled over by the 
blasts of wind. He clung to the hand-rail and 
listened, peering intently into the mist. He saw 
nothing but fog and heard only the hoarse shriek 
of the ship’s whistle and the roar of the wind. 
He turned back and shut the door. Every mo- 
ment he felt more fearful, for he knew there must 
be ships in the vicinity. And now he began to 
feel grateful that Captain Lansford was on the 
bridge. Every time he thought of that tall, un- 
daunted figure pacing the bridge, Roy felt safer. 

A great desire to help in the battle with the 
elements came to Roy. But what could he do? 


210 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


He might call other ships and get replies, but 
how would that help? They could not locate the 
Lycoming any more than he could locate them. 
Besides, he didn’t know what ships to call, what 
vessels were in his vicinity. 

“ But I can find out,” muttered Roy. “Maybe 
the captain would like to know.” 

When Roy became the Lycoming's wireless 
man, he subscribed for the New York Herald. 
Daily the paper came to the office on the pier, 
where Roy got it. When he returned from his 
first voyage, he secured the back numbers that 
had come during his absence. And from every 
issue since he became a subscriber, Roy had 
clipped the shipping news and carefully filed it 
away. He had had a vague notion that some 
day these clippings might be useful. Already 
the time had come, for his clippings contained 
very complete shipping news from all parts of 
the world. They would tell him what ships were 
on the sea in his vicinity. 

Roy wondered what his vicinity was. He had 
been busy and had not followed the progress of 
the ship. But he knew she had been running at 
her usual speed, which was about fifteen knots an 
hour. They had been at sea but a trifle more 
than twenty-four hours. A little figuring told 
Roy that the Lycoming was perhaps 425 miles 


A CLOSE CALL 


211 


from New York. Taking a chart from his book 
rack and a ruler, he calculated the distance ac- 
cording to the scale and made a dot on the map. 
The Lycoming was off Cape Hatteras, the worst 
weather-breeder on our coast and the graveyard 
of so many noble ships ! 

Then Roy did a little more figuring. He knew 
the Lycoming was four days from Galveston. 
At the same rate of speed, he found by measur- 
ing his map, the Lycoming was perhaps three and 
a half days from New Orleans, a little less from 
Mobile, and not three days from Tampa. Key 
West was a few hours more than two days dis- 
tant, and Jacksonville not much more than a 
day. Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington 
were within a day’s sail. Northern Cuba was 
only a trifle more than two days distant, and vari- 
ous West Indian ports were but a few hours 
further, while the Bahamas were some hours 
nearer. From some or all of these ports and a 
few others besides, ships might have sailed in time 
to bring them close to the Lycoming now. Roy 
didn’t know the speed of any of the ships that ply 
along the coast excepting the Lycoming's , but 
the captain would know. From his Herald clip- 
pings Roy could learn what ships were on the 
ocean. 

Roy got out his clippings and jotted down the 


212 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

names of coastwise ships sailing from various 
ports in recent days. He believed most of them 
would average about the same speed as the Ly- 
coming. Calculating on that basis, he found that 
El Alba from Galveston, the Antilla from Cuba, 
the Algonquin from San Domingo, the City of 
Columbus from Savannah, the Alabama from 
Port Arthur, and the Merrimack from Jackson- 
ville, all bound north, were now due in the neigh- 
borhood of Hatteras, while the Matinicock , bound 
from Baltimore to Tampico, and the Brunswick , 
south-bound from Newport News, must be close 
ahead in the fog. Now he had something to 
go on. 

Taking down his signal book, Roy copied the 
call signals of each of these vessels. Then he 
adjusted his receivers, threw over his switch and 
began to call. 

“ KKL — KKL — IvKL de WNA,” flashed 
Roy’s signal. 

Again and again he repeated the call, but no 
answer greeted his ear. Either El Alba was not 
within hearing distance or else her wireless man 
was not at his post. 

Roy tried for the Antilla . “ KWD — KWD — 
KWD de WNA,” he rapped out. Then amid 
the roar of the storm he waited for an answer. 
“ KWD— KWD— KWD de WNA,” repeated 


A CLOSE CALL 


213 


Roy after an interval. And this time, very 
faintly, he got a reply. 

“ KWD de WNA. Where are you? ” called 
Roy. “Are my signals distinct? ” 

“ WNA de KWD,” came the reply. “ We 
must be about abreast of Cape Fear. Your sig- 
nals are very weak.” 

“We don’t need to worry about the Antilla, 
then,” said Roy to himself. “ Cape Fear must 
be at least 175 miles south of us.” 

Again Roy sent a call flashing from his in- 
strument. “ K V G — K V G — K V G de WNA.” 

The Algonquin answered promptly. The sig- 
nals were very faint. “ WNA de KVG. What 
do you want? ” 

“ Where are you? ” repeated Roy. “ We’re 
off Hatteras.” 

“We touched at Bermuda and left there three 
hours ago.” 

“ Good ! ” muttered Roy. “ That’s another 
one out of the road.” 

Again he consulted his list and sent forth a 
call. “ KFA — KFA — KFA de WNA.” 

The answer came sharp and clear. “ WNA 
de KFA. Go ahead.” 

“ Where are you? ” asked Roy. 

“ Lost in the fog,” replied the operator on the 
City of Columbus. “ I don’t know where we 


214 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


are. We ought to be off Hatteras. Where are 
you? ” 

“ Off Hatteras. Are my signals clear? ” 

“ Very sharp.” 

“We must be near each other.” 

The Alabama did not answer Roy’s call, and 
he could get neither of the south-bound ships 
ahead of the Lycoming. But the Merrimack re- 
plied so sharply that she was quite evidently near 
at hand. 

Roy picked up his telephone and called the 
captain. No answer came. Again and again 
Roy called. Evidently the telephone was out of 
order. Roy snatched on his raincoat and cap 
and rushed through the rain for the bridge. 
Both the captain and Mr. Young were on duty. 
Roy thanked his lucky stars that the first officer 
was there. Going close to him and cupping his 
hands about his mouth, Roy shouted in the big 
mate’s ear, “ City of Columbus and Merrimack 
near us. Been talking to both. They’re look- 
ing for us.” 

The first officer nodded and crossed the bridge 
to repeat Roy’s report to the captain. Roy 
waited lest the captain should have an order. 
The latter merely nodded at the mate and peered 
into the storm again. Roy went back to the 
wireless house, clutching a hand-rail and stagger- 


A CLOSE CALL 


215 


ing under the wind. He noticed that the ship 
was moving at half speed. 

Again he called the City of Columbus . The 
reply seemed no sharper than before. But when 
he signaled the Merrimack , the answer fairly 
crackled in his ears. Evidently the two boats 
were much nearer to one another. 

Roy’s heart began to pound furiously. Were 
the two ships about to collide? Was there any- 
thing he could do to prevent it? What should 
he do if they did? Sound the SOS of course and 
keep sending it until he sank. That was his duty. 
He set his teeth. “ I’ll do it,” he muttered. 
“ But there mustn’t be any collision. We must 
prevent it. But how? ” 

Roy’s brow wrinkled. What could he do? 
“ If only I had a direction finder like the one the 
government gave us during the spy hunt,” he 
sighed, “ I’d locate the Merrimack quick.” 

Again he called. “ KQM de WNA. How 
are my signals now? ” 

“ WNA de KQM. Sharper than ever. We 
must be very close.” 

“Are you whistling? ” asked Roy. 

“ Sure. Can’t you hear us? We can hear 
you.” 

Roy laid down his receivers and opened the 
door. Faintly he heard the booming of the 


216 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOR 

Merrimack's whistle. Then it came with star- 
tling distinctness. A third time it sounded ap- 
parently in the far, far distance. From what 
direction the sound came Roy had not the slight- 
est idea. The fog now muffled, now magnified 
the sound, which seemed to come from nowhere 
and everywhere. 

An idea flashed into Roy’s head. He leaped 
back to his operating table. 

“ KQM de WNA,” he flashed. “ Is there any 
way you can signal me and blow your whistle at 
the same time? ” he asked. 

“ Yes,” came the answer. “ The captain and 
I will set our watches together and send the two 
signals simultaneously. I’ll send three V’s. 
Listen.” 

Roy sprang up and opened his door, then 
leaped back to his operating table. He clamped 
on his receivers, laid his watch on the table before 
him, and watched it in breathless expectation. 

His heart beat like a trip-hammer. The blood 
pounded in his brain. His face was flushed with 
excitement. Somewhere out there in the fog the 
great steamship was rushing toward the Lycom- 
ing. She might be a mile away, she might be 
three hundred yards. The two might crash be- 
fore ever he heard the signals he was waiting for. 
Tense, rigid, yet inwardly aquiver, Roy laid his 


A CLOSE CALL 


217 


finger on his key, ready to sound the SOS. Then 
he listened. For what seemed an age he listened. 
The wind shrieked and howled. The Lycoming's 
whistle boomed. The windows rattled. The 
rain beat a tattoo on the roof. But no wireless 
signal greeted Roy’s ears. He could hardly 
hold himself in his chair. Then it came. “ V — 
V — V,” went the signal. Roy noted the position 
of the second-hand on his watch and waited 
breathlessly for the sound of the Merrimack's 
whistle. 

One second passed — two — three — four — five. 

“ Mmmmmmmmm! ” came the roar of the 
Merrimack's whistle. 

“ Five seconds,” said Roy. “ She’s almost a 
mile away. Thank God.” 

He pressed his key. Once more blue sparks 
leaped in his spark-gap. 

“ KQM de WM. Five seconds difference,” 
he flashed. “ You must be about a mile away. 
Try it again.” 

“ WNA de KQM,” came back the answer. 
“ Will repeat. Listen.” 

Again Roy sat tense, listening for the voice 
that meant so much. Again time seemed to stand 
still. The wind roared so loud Roy feared he 
might not be able to hear the Merrimack' s whistle. 
The rain was beating on the roof like the crash- 


218 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 


in g of a thousand drums. His own door was 
banging as the ship swayed and lurched, and the 
rain drove in in torrents, but Roy dared not close 
it. All he could do was to stare at his watch and 
listen, listen, listen. He hardly dared breathe. 
He was even afraid that the pounding of his 
heart would drown out the sounds he was strain- 
ing every sense to catch. 

Suddenly something snapped in his ear. It 
was the Merrimack's signal, loud as a thunder- 
clap. Roy jumped in his seat, but kept his eyes 
on his watch. 

“ One second — two ” 

“ Boom ! ” shrieked the Merrimack's whistle. 

“ KQM,” flashed Roy with trembling fingers. 
“ Reverse. You’re almost on us.” Then he 
dropped his receivers and darted into the storm. 
Fearlessly he raced across the slippery deck. 

“ Reverse,” he cried, rushing up to the first 
mate. 4 4 The Merrimack is almost on us. A 
minute ago she was a mile away. Now she’s less 
than two thousand feet.” 

As though to verify Roy’s words, the hoarse 
bellowing roar of the Merrimack's whistle rang 
out deafeningly. The first mate sprang to the 
indicator and signaled to the engine room, 44 Re- 
verse — full speed.” The captain leaped for the 
whistle cord and the Lycoming shrieked her 


A CLOSE CALL 


219 


warning. As her propeller reversed, the Lycom - 
mg shivered from stem to stern, heeling far over, 
while the water about her Avas churned into yeasty 
foam. She lost headway and began to wallow in 
the waves. The captain signaled for the engines 
to stop. 

“ Mmmmmmmmm! ” roared the Lycoming's 
whistle as she rolled from side to side. 

“ Mmmmmmmmm! ” came back the awful 
echo from the Merrimack. 

The two ships were almost on top of each other, 
yet neither was visible to the other. 

“ Mmmmmmmm! ” “ Mmmmmmmmm ! ” they 
bellowed at each other. 

The captain put his mouth to the first mate’s 
ear. “ Can you make out where she is? ” he 
shouted. 

“ To starboard, I think, sir.” 

“ So do I.” 

The captain beckoned to Roy. “ Tell that 
ship to stand still while I pass it,” he shouted. 

Roy tore back to the wireless house. Water 
ran from him in streams as he sat down at his 
table. 

“ KQM de WNA,” he flashed. “ Tell your 
captain to stand still while we pass.” 

“All right — go ahead,” came the reply. 

Roy scrambled back to the bridge with the 


220 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


message. The captain turned the handle of the 
indicator. Slowly the Lycoming gathered head- 
way. 

“ Mmmmmmmm ! ” shrieked her whistle. 

“Mmmmmmmm!” answered the Merrimack . 

And now there could be no mistaking her posi- 
tion. She was to starboard and close at hand. 
Slowly the Lycoming crept around her, then went 
nosing her way through the fog again. Once 
Roy thought he glimpsed the Merrimack but he 
was not sure. When her whistle was plainly 
astern, Roy again shot a message to her wireless 
man. 

“ Close shave,” he flashed. “ Thanks for your 
help.” 

“ You saved us from a collision, sure,” came 
back the answer. “ Good-bye and good luck to 
you.” 

A few minutes later the two boats were miles 
apart. 


CHAPTER XIII 

ROY GAINS ANOTHER FRIEND 

O N went the Lycoming , creeping cautiously 
through the fog. For hours Roy sat at his 
instrument and kept in touch with the steamers he 
had already talked to. Again he went over his 
newspaper file and searched out all the other 
ships recorded that by any possibility at all could 
be near the Lycoming. One by one he flung out 
their call signals. Some he heard at a far dis- 
tance, some he could not reach at all. From 
time to time he talked with the City of Columbus , 
but she was still afar off. When he had thor- 
oughly combed the air with his wireless signals, 
Roy breathed more freely. He felt certain that 
no steamer was in the Lycoming's path or in her 
immediate neighborhood. The only thing that 
remained to fear was some silent sailing ship that 
might suddenly come plunging out of the mist 
bank. Roy hoped the time would soon come 
when every ship afloat would be compelled to 
carry wireless. 


221 


222 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

Suddenly the fog lifted as mysteriously as it 
had come. The rain ceased. The wind fell 
somewhat, but still continued high. Roy looked 
at his watch and was surprised to see that they 
had been in the fog-bank for more than eight 
hours. It was night. Roy had not even been 
conscious that he had missed his supper. Now 
he was suddenly so hungry he felt as though he 
could eat nails. The dining-room was closed. 
Roy punched the bell for the steward. When 
the latter appeared, Roy said, “ Sam, could you 
get a fellow a bite to eat? We’ve been so busy 
up here that I clean forgot to go to supper.” 

Now Roy remembered that he was wet. 
Every garment he had on was sopping with 
moisture. Puddles of water had gathered under 
his chair. His operating table was soaked. His 
chair held a little pool of water. He had been 
hot with excitement and had not been conscious 
of his wet clothes. Now he threw off his clammy 
garments, rubbed himself briskly, and pulled on 
dry clothes. Just as he finished, Sam returned 
with a pot of steaming coffee, an enormous quan- 
tity of sandwiches, some freshly boiled eggs, and 
a big piece of pie. 

“ That sure looks good to me,” said Roy, as he 
reached for a sandwich. “ I am much obliged to 
you, Sam.” 


EOY GAINS ANOTHER FRIEND 


223 


“ Don’t mention it, suh. We all is mighty 
grateful to you fo’ what you done fo’ de ship.” 
And Sam disappeared through the doorway, 
grinning. 

Roy’s heart leaped with joy. At last he had 
won recognition. Then he wondered how Sam 
knew about the occurrence. Perhaps he had only 
guessed what had happened. Yet Roy knew 
that could not be. Some one must have reported 
the occurrence and that some one could be only 
the captain or Mr. Young. Roy was certain it 
was not the captain. It did not matter to Roy 
who told it. Whoever did had considered Roy’s 
service as meritorious or he would not have men- 
tioned it. Roy felt that there was no doubt that 
recognition had come to him. He resolved to be 
very careful not to mention the matter himself 
lest he seem boastful. 

After all, Roy asked himself, had he done any- 
thing remarkable? He had merely made use of 
his knowledge of scientific principles. The cap- 
tain, who had sailed the sea for a generation and 
faced countless storms and fogs without ever 
losing a man or a ship, had done a million times 
more. That thought was both sobering and 
wholesome. It helped Roy to see matters in 
their proper light. If anybody spoke to him now 
about the matter he was in no danger of getting 


224 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 


a “ swelled head.” Compared to the captain he 
felt very insignificant indeed. 

It was well that these sobering thoughts came 
to Roy so soon, for very shortly afterward Mr. 
Young stalked into the wireless house. He had 
seldom visited Roy there and Roy was happy to 
see him. He was happier still when Mr. Young 
walked over to the operating table, studied the in- 
struments intently, and, turning to Roy, de- 
manded, “ How did you do that, Mr. Mercer? ” 

“ Do what? ” asked Roy. 

“ Find out how close that ship was? To be- 
gin with, how did you know she was near? ” 

“ I was never in a big fog before,” said Roy, 
“ but I saw at once that the ship was in a danger- 
ous situation. I wondered what I could do to 
help. I knew that at least I could figure out 
what ships were in the neighborhood.” 

“ How? ” said the mate, much interested. 

“ You see,” explained Roy, “ I have kept a 
file of the Herald shipping news ever since I 
joined the Lycoming. That gave me the names 
of the ships of any size that have sailed from vari- 
ous ports in the last few days. I made a list of 
them. Here it is.” 

Roy handed the list to Mr. Young, who looked 
at it with interest. 

“ Then I tried to figure out which ones would 


ROY GAINS ANOTHER FRIEND 


225 


be due in our neighborhood. I didn’t know how 
fast any of them traveled, but you can bet your 
boots that hereafter I’m going to learn the speed 
of every ship we pass. I figured they would all 
go at about our rate — fifteen knots. Then I 
worked out the distances from all the ports south 
of us, including Cuban and West Indian ports, 
and reckoned what ships should be near us. 
When I had found that out, I began calling them. 
Only one of them seemed to be very close — the 
Merrimack ” 

“ How could you determine that? ” 

“ Well, I knew we were off Hatteras, and most 
of the ships I talked with knew where they were. 
But the Merrimack was lost in the fog and her 
wireless man didn’t know where he was.” 

“ Then how did you know she was near? ” 

“ By the wireless signals. They were so loud 
and distinct that I knew she was close at 
hand.” 

“ But how could you tell that she was five thou- 
sand feet away at one time and a little later only 
two thousand feet? That’s what puzzles me. I 
never heard of anything like it before.” 

“ It was this way,” explained Boy. “ When I 
got into touch with her wireless man, he asked if 
we could hear the Merrimack's whistle. He said 
they could distinctly hear ours. At least he sup- 


226 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

posed it was ours. I listened and heard the 
whistle, but one time it seemed near and again 
far off. I couldn’t tell from what direction the 
sound came.” 

“ Correct,” said Mr. Young. “ We heard it, 
too. Fog does the strangest things to sound. 
That’s what makes it so dangerous for ships. 
The officer in charge can usually hear another 
ship, but sometimes he can’t for the life of him 
tell what direction the sound comes from.” 

“ Well,” continued Roy, “ it occurred to me 
that if the Merrimack's whistle and her wireless 
instrument could signal at the same instant I 
could tell how far away she was.” 

“ How? ” asked the first mate, more interested 
than ever. 

“ Why, you know, Mr. Young, electricity is in- 
stantaneous, while it takes sound a second to 
travel a thousand feet. If the two signals started 
together, I could time the difference between their 
arrivals. It was simple enough if only the Mer- 
rimack could send the signals right.” 

“ Now what do you think of that? ” cried the 
mate. “ How did you manage it? ” 

“ The Merrimack's wireless man did that. I 
asked him if he could. He said he would talk to 
the captain and they would ^et their watches to- 
gether and each signal at the same instant. All 


ROY GAINS ANOTHER FRIEND 


227 


I had to do was listen to the signals and catch the 
time between them. ,, 

“Well, I’ll be darned!” ejaculated the first 
mate. “ I never heard anything like it. Is that 
what they teach you at the radio school? ” 

“ I’ve never been to one,” said Roy. “All I 
know about wireless I picked up myself.” 

The first officer regarded Roy with astonish- 
ment. “ Well, you’re a pippin,” he said. 

Roy laughed. “A little while ago,” he re- 
plied, “ I thought I would soon be a fish. When 
the Merrimack signaled a second time and there 
was only two seconds’ difference between her 
radio and her whistle, I thought it was all up 
with us. I signaled her to reverse and raced out 
to you on the bridge. You know the rest.” 

“ Mr. Mercer,” said the first mate, as he rose 
to go, “ I’m going to tell the captain every word 
of this. He has never thought very much of 
wireless, because he always said, ‘ What good is 
it? It won’t tell you where you are, or where the 
other fellow is. And when you’re in a fog those 
are the only things a skipper wants to know.’ 
But it seems that in the right hands it will answer 
both questions.” 

“ Don’t be in a hurry,” said Roy, trying to 
change the subject. “ Have a bite to eat. Sam 
just brought me this stuff. The coffee’s piping 


228 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

hot. You must be tired to death. You’ve been 
on the bridge more than twelve hours straight.” 

“ Thanks,” said the mate. “ A cup of hot 
coffee and a sandwich would taste good, if it 
won’t be robbing you.” 

They sat and talked for half an hour, munch- 
ing sandwiches as they conversed. When Mr. 
Young finally went to his own quarters, Roy felt 
as though they had been friends for years. Their 
brief comradeship in danger had made their 
friendship real. Roy felt this so keenly that as 
his big visitor rose to go, he said, “ I wish you 
would call me Roy when we’re alone, and not 
Mr. Mercer. You know I’m not used to being 
called Mister yet and I’d rather not have my 
friends use that handle when they talk to me.” 

“All right, Roy. Good-night and my hearty 
thanks for your help to-day.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 



ITHOUT further incident of note, the 


* * Lycoming ran on down the Atlantic coast, 
passed through the Florida Straits, and bore 
straight across the Gulf to her destination. 
When she was safely docked and the process of 
unloading well under way, the big mate one day 
mounted the ladder to the wireless house. 

“ Good-morning, Roy,” he said. “How would 
you like to take a little trip over to the oil fields? 
I have to go over there for the captain and I’d 
be glad to take you along.” 

“ How far is it, and how long will it take? ” 
inquired Roy. 

“About sixty miles, I suppose. It will likely 
take us two hours to run over.” 

“ Thank you,” said Roy. “ I’ll be mighty glad 
to go. I have never seen an oil-well.” 

They ferried across the bay to Port Bolivar 
and there took a train for the oil fields. Soon 
Roy was very glad indeed that he had come. 
Everything was different from what he was ac- 


229 


230 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

customed to at home. The country was low and 
level. Nowhere was there an elevation that 
could be called a hill. In the open spaces he 
could see for miles and miles over the flat land. 
His view in this direction was almost as unlimited 
as it was on the ocean. To Roy, accustomed as 
he was to hills and mountains, this flat land 
seamed monotonous and uninteresting. In 
places he saw herds of cattle on these open 
reaches, and cowboys galloping on horseback. 
For a considerable stretch Roy and his comrade 
rode over the bare, level prairie. Then they 
came to some bits of woodland. 

“ I never realized before,” said Roy, “ how 
beautiful trees are. Look at that fine grove over 
there.” 

“ Down here they call a grove like that a 
motte,” rejoined Roy’s companion with a smile. 

“A what?” ejaculated Roy in astonishment. 

“A motte. It means a little grove of trees in 
a prairie.” 

“ Well, that’s a new one to me,” said Roy. 

“ You’ll run into lots more things that seem 
strange,” said the mate. “ You know you’re a 
long way from home. If you were in Europe, 
you’d be in a foreign land at this distance from 
your home.” 

“ Well, I see something already that’s new. 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 231 

What ails the trees in that 4 motte ’ ? They look 
as if somebody had hung veils or something on 
them.” 

The first officer laughed. 44 You aren’t so far 
out of the way, Roy,” he said, 44 only what you 
see is moss, and it was hung there by nature.” 

“Moss!” exclaimed Roy. 44 Why, I never 
saw any moss like that. The stuff must be a 
yard long.” 

“Yes; and it’s moss. They call it Spanish 
moss, and sometimes it is known as pirate’s beard. 
It often grows three feet long. In this part of 
the world the trees are festooned with it. After 
a while we’ll take a walk through a wood where 
it grows thick, and you’ll agree with me that it 
is very beautiful.” 

The train passed a number of ranch-houses, or 
rather a number were visible at a distance. They 
were little, low structures, painted a dazzling 
white. There was little or no shade about them, 
and it seemed to Roy as though they must be un- 
en durably hot, out there on the open prairie with 
the blazing Texas sun beating down on them. 
Several of these ranch-houses had curious, low 
trees near them that spread out horizontally like 
enormous umbrellas. They caught Roy’s eye at 
once. 

44 What are those funny trees? ” he demanded. 


232 THE YOTJNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


“ Those are China-trees, Roy. They have 
quantities of colored berries on them in the winter 
season, the juice of which is intoxicating. Young 
robins often eat the berries and get drunk. Then 
they can be knocked over with a stick, and, in 
consequence, many poor young robins go into 
potpies down here. It is said that a robin that 
has once been intoxicated by the berries will never 
touch them a second time, but I don’t know how 
true it is.” 

The railroad crossed several small streams. 
Along the course of each were luxuriant growths 
of trees. Some of these were quite unfamiliar to 
Roy. One species in particular caught his atten- 
tion because of its dark, glossy foliage. 

“ That is the live-oak,” explained Mr. Young. 
“ It is really an evergreen, although it has leaves 
like our deciduous trees.” 

In about two hours the train drew near the oil 
fields. Mr. Young did not have to tell Roy 
where they were, for Roy’s nose told him very 
plainly. The air was redolent with crude oil. 

“ Phew! ” cried Roy. “ That’s pretty strong. 
I don’t believe I would like to live in such a 
smell.” 

“ You’d soon get used to it,” replied the mate. 
“A person can get used to anything, apparently, 
though I’ve sometimes wondered how anybody 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 233 

could ever become accustomed to the smell of the 
factories where they turn fish into oil and fertil- 
izer. I was in one once near the Delaware Break- 
water.” 

“ If it smelled any worse than this,” laughed 
Roy, “ I’m glad it’s near the Delaware Break- 
water. That’s quite close enough for me.” 

When they got out of the train they walked 
toward the oil field. Roy had seen pictures of 
the Pennsylvania oil fields, which were hardly a 
hundred miles from his home. He expected to 
see a derrick here and a derrick there, and so he 
was utterly amazed at what he now beheld. Oil- 
derricks rose before him in dense masses. From 
a distance it seemed to Roy that they were as 
close together as trees in a forest. There were 
hundreds and hundreds of them. Instead of be- 
ing spread out all over the region they were 
crowded together. Mr. Young explained that 
this was because the oil pocket was in that par- 
ticular neighborhood. As they drew nearer, 
they could see the pumps at work, the walking- 
beams going rhythmically up and down. 

But what amazed Roy perhaps even more than 
the mass of derricks were the colonies of tanks to 
hold the oil. In every direction were clusters of 
tanks. These were great, circular structures of 
steel, each holding 30,000 gallons or more. Roy 


234 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


noticed that each group of tanks was laid out with 
mathematical precision, like checkers standing at 
even distances from one another on a checker- 
board. The idea was emphasized by the fact that 
each tank had a dike or low wall of earth thrown 
up about it in the form of a great square, like the 
lines in the checker-board. Roy asked why the 
dikes were there. 

“ Sometimes an oil-tank catches fire,” said Mr. 
Young, “ and the burning oil gets out. If there 
is a dike about a tank the burning oil can’t reach 
the tanks next to it and set them on fire.” 

“ It’s a good idea,” commented Roy. 

“ If ever you see a tank afire, you’ll think so,” 
said Mr. Young. “ Sometimes a tank explodes 
and showers burning oil all about. A tank will 
burn for days, and the entire field is endangered 
as long as the blaze lasts. Everything about an 
oil field is soaked with oil, you will notice, and 
if a fire spreads, it may sweep over the entire 
field. That has happened more than once. 
Whenever a tank gets afire, they begin at once to 
pump the oil out of the tanks around it.” 

Presently Roy caught sight of a great string of 
tank-cars. “ Jiminy crickets!” he exclaimed. 
“ I didn’t know there were so many oil cars in the 
country. Why, there must be hundreds of 
them.” 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 


235 


“ I suppose there are,” answered Mr. Young. 
“ Do you see those racks running along the 
tracks just beside the cars? Those are huge oil 
pipes. They connect with oil-tanks somewhere. 
When a train is to be filled, a connecting pipe is 
run out to each tank-car and the pumps are 
started. They can load a hundred cars as easily 
as one.” 

Presently a man on a buckboard dashed toward 
them, crying, “ Here’s your hot tamales. Just 
fresh out of the kettle.” 

“ Have you eaten a hot tamale, Roy? ” asked 
Mr. Young. 

“ No,” said Roy. “ I didn’t know they were 
things you ate. I thought that was just a slang 
term.” 

Mr. Young laughed and said, “We’ll try some. 
Then you’ll know what that bit of slang means.” 

He motioned to the vender, who raced over to 
them and pulled his horses up short. They were 
bronchos and interested Roy. They were small 
but apparently tough and wiry. Mr. Young 
bought two tamales and handed one to Roy. The 
latter looked at it quizzically. He didn’t know 
whether he was the victim of a joke or not; for 
what Mr. Young had given him was a piece of a 
corn-husk. It was piping hot, and was wrapped 
around something soft. 


236 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ Open it,” said Mr. Young. 

Roy carefully unrolled the husk. Within was 
the steaming tamale. It was a little cake of meal 
and minced meat, cooked in the husk. Roy took 
a bite. There were tears in his eyes before he 
got it down. 

“ Great Csesar! ” he cried, “ what’s in that? ” 

“ Corn-meal, minced meat, cayenne pepper, 
and perhaps some other things,” said Mr. Young. 

“ Principally pepper, I think,” said Roy, suck- 
ing in fresh air to cool his burning mouth. Then, 
after a moment, he laughed. “ I certainly do 
know what that slang term means,” he said. 
“ Whoever invented that dish, anyway? ” 

“ The Mexicans,” said Mr. Young. “ There 
are a lot more Mexican dishes you may want to 
try while you’re down here — enchiladas and chili 
con carne, for instance.” 

“ Not for mine,” said Roy ruefully. “At least 
not if they are anything like hot tamales.” 

“ They are,” laughed the first officer, “ only 
more so. That’s one thing I never could under- 
stand — why people in a country as hot as Mexico 
should want to eat food as hot and greasy as the 
Mexicans like it, for they use about as much lard 
as they do pepper.” 

“ I’m glad I’m not a Mexican,” laughed Roy. 

They walked through the oil field to the head- 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 237 

quarters of a drilling company. Mr. Young 
transacted the business on which he had come. 
Hoy, meantime, wandered about, watching opera- 
tions. He was particularly interested in the 
digging of a great, round hollow near by. Hun- 
dreds of men were at work in it, and scores of 
mules. With scrapers the men were hollowing’ 
out a great circle and dragging the scooped-out 
earth up in a mound that ran around it. 

“ What are they doing? ” asked Roy when 
Mr. Young rejoined him. 

“ Building an earthen tank for oil,” replied the 
mate. “ They will lay planks to form the cir- 
cular wall and back that up with the earth in the 
mound. The roof will be of boards. The tank 
will hold several hundred gallons and will be 
pretty much under ground. It’s a cheap way to 
build a reservoir and it makes a pretty safe re- 
ceptacle. Now we’ll go look at that bit of woods 
I mentioned.” 

Thejr left the oil field and walked toward a 
woodland that was visible at some distance. It 
proved to be extensive and lay along a little 
stream of water. Roy was instantly attracted 
by the wonderful growths of pirate’s beard. It 
was everywhere. In great festoons it hung from 
the trees, giving the woods a misty, hazy look. 
Roy got hold of some and examined it. The 


238 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

moss was like coarse, gray-green fibres more or 
less loosely grown together. It reminded him of 
an old man’s beard and he thought it was well 
named. 

He admired the live-oaks with their picturesque 
growth and beautiful leaves, so green and glossy. 
Here and there great bunches of mistletoe with 
its yellow-green stems and leaves caught his eye. 
But what pleased Roy most were the beautiful 
holly-trees. There were none in his part of the 
country, but he had seen holly branches in the 
stores at Christmas time and he instantly knew 
what they were. There were no red berries on 
the trees at this season, but they were beautiful 
even without the berries, with their smooth, gray 
trunks that reminded Roy of the beeches in his 
own neighborhood, and the glossy, dark green 
leaves, with their prickly edges. There were 
many other strange and interesting growths, and 
Roy went back to the train feeling that he had 
been richly repaid for his journey. 

The return trip was made without incident and 
in due time Roy and his friend found themselves 
back on the Lycoming . Captain Lansford 
nodded to them as they came aboard and inquired 
pleasantly if Roy had enjoyed the trip. Roy 
answered briefly, then went to the wireless house. 
His heart was beating high. The captain had 


A TRIP TO THE OIL FIELDS 


239 


never said one word to him concerning the fog 
and the part Roy had played in helping to pre- 
vent a collision, but ever since that event he had 
seemed different to Roy. His greeting now 
made Roy feel that perhaps at last he was mak- 
ing some headway in his struggle to win the cap- 
tain’s good-will. At any rate, he felt sure that 
the captain no longer disliked him. 


CHAPTER XV 


SOS 

B UT Roy was soon to find that the captain’s 
favor, like success, could be gained by no 
royal road. It was true that the captain’s feel- 
ing toward Roy was perhaps altered somewhat, 
but not nearly so much as Roy either hoped or at 
first believed. The captain treated him less 
coldly than before, but there was nothing like 
cordiality in his manner toward Roy. Dis- 
tinctly the captain’s attitude was like that of the 
man from Missouri. He still wanted to be shown. 

It was a long time before Roy grasped the idea 
that the captain was still skeptical concerning the 
desirability of wireless. But as time and dis- 
tance from the Merrimack incident gave him a 
saner view of the affair, he came to understand 
the captain’s point of view. That was that 
though Roy had possibly been helpful in averting 
a collision, it did not by any means follow that if 
Roy had not been aboard a collision would have 
occurred. The men on the bridge plainly heard 
240 


SOS 


241 


the Merrimack's whistle. They knew she was 
near and coming closer. They were straining 
every nerve and sense to prevent an accident. 
All that Roy had told them that they did not al- 
ready know was the fact that the Merrimack was 
within two thousand feet. And they might have 
guessed even that. When Roy, after much de- 
liberation, had reasoned this out for himself, he 
saw his own part in a new light. It seemed to 
him now very commonplace and inconsequential. 
Perhaps he now erred as much in this new opinion 
as previously he had erred in overestimating his 
accomplishment. 

But at any rate his new point of view helped 
him. More and more, as he saw new crises aris- 
ing, now over delays in loading, now over breaks 
in machinery or equipment, now through storms 
or other superhuman causes, and saw the captain 
rise superior to one after another of these ob- 
stacles, he got his true bearings. He understood 
what a really insignificant place he occupied. 
For thirty years the captain had wrestled, and 
wrestled triumphantly, with every form of ob- 
stacle known to the mariner, while he, Roy, had 
sailed the seas hardly more than thirty days and 
knew nothing of the thousand difficulties of 
navigation. 

It was fortunate indeed for Roy that he could 


242 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

thus come to understand his true situation. It 
prevented him, on the one hand, from becoming 
conceited, and so ruining his chances of ever 
getting ahead; and, on the other hand, it kept him 
from growing sullen and becoming indifferent in 
his work. And while it could hardly have been 
called encouraging, it was far from being dis- 
couraging. For Roy’s entire experience of life 
made him believe firmly that if he worked hard 
enough and used his brains along with his hands, 
nothing could keep him from succeeding. The 
net result of all his cogitations, therefore, was to 
make him grit his teeth the tighter and vow in 
his heart that nothing should prevent him from 
winning out. He would do perfectly every task 
that could possibly be required of him. 

Week after week went by with no noticeable 
alteration in the captain’s attitude toward Roy. 
The captain spoke to him politely but without 
cordiality. He never came to the wireless house 
and he never invited Roy to the bridge, or the 
wheel-house, or his own cabin. He sent no mes- 
sages other than those required by his work. He 
never asked for weather-reports or storm warn- 
ings, or the nightly news-letter, though Roy un- 
failingly laid these before the captain. But 
whether the latter welcomed them or took any 
interest in them Roy could not discover. 


SOS 


243 


All the while Roy continued to pick up useful 
information. He got acquainted with every 
member of the crew. He learned exactly how a 
ship is coaled and how the coal is stored in the 
bunkers. Often he visited the fire-room and the 
water-tenders explained to him exactly how fires 
should be handled. He watched the crew load 
and unload the ship and soon found that if the 
cargo was to be stowed in such a manner that it 
would not shift in a storm and endanger the ship, 
it must be packed Avith fine skill. Harder than 
ever he tried to make himself agreeable to the. 
passengers, for he bore ever in mind the fact that 
it was his duty to get as much business for the 
company as he could. 

Meantime, Roy matured rapidly. All his 
pleasing frankness and his jolly good nature he 
retained. More and more he grew dependable. 
Before many weeks passed everybody aboard the 
Lycoming , from the captain down, understood 
that if Roy said he would do a thing or if he 
Avere ordered to do a thing, that thing would be 
done, and done promptly and well. Roy hardly 
realized Avhat a reputation he had gained. And 
even if he had, it is hardly likely that he would 
have appreciated the full importance of such a 
reputation. Though he knew in his heart that 
any real success must be based on just such a 


244 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 

reputation for trustworthiness, he was constantly 
on the lookout for an opportunity to prove his 
merit in ways more striking. The opportunity 
came to Roy far sooner than he ever believed it 
would and in a way it would have terrified him to 
contemplate, could he have foreseen all that lay 
before him. 

Early September found Roy on his last voyage 
aboard the Lycoming . At least he believed it to 
be his last. The three months’ period during 
which a possible successor was being prepared for 
his position was almost at an end. The captain 
had given no indication that he thought more 
highly of Roy or that he desired him to continue 
at his post. Neither had he ever mentioned, after 
their first interview, the probability of a suc- 
cessor for Roy. But Roy understood that he 
would not. The new man would simply come 
aboard and Roy would be told to report to the 
Marconi office. What would happen to him then 
he did not know. He hated to think of the day 
when this would happen, for it might mean the 
end of his career as a Marconi operator. More 
than that, it would certainly mean an end to his 
relations with the purser and the first mate and 
all the other friends who had been so good to 
him on the Lycoming , and of whom he had be- 
come so fond. So it was with a rather heavy 


SOS 


245 


heart that he put to sea early in September on 
what he believed would be his very last trip 
aboard the Lycoming. It was hard to keep a 
stiff upper lip and to continue smiling. But Roy 
took a grip on himself and made the effort. 

Apparently the journey was to be as unevent- 
ful as the last few trips had been. Two days 
passed without incident. Then the barometer 
began to fall. Roy did not know that, but he 
had grown sufficiently weather-wise to know that 
a storm was brewing. At first he thought little 
of it. The captain’s face, as usual, was inscru- 
table, but Mr. Young looked sober. When Roy 
noticed that he began to feel concerned. Then 
he remembered that it was the ninth of Septem- 
ber — the very period of the year when the worst 
storms visit the Gulf. 

The Lycoming was already far down the 
Florida coast. The Bahama Islands were just 
ahead. The passage between Palm Beach and 
the Great Bahama Island was hardly sixty miles 
wide — a mere nothing in a storm, should anything 
go wrong. Only a few hours distant were the 
Florida Straits, with their treacherous currents 
and their far-flung string of keys, like a chain to 
catch the unwary mariner, with Key West like 
a pendant at the end of the chain, and the Dry 
Tortugas still farther west. Perilous indeed 


246 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


would be the position of any ship overtaken 
thereabout by a hurricane. 

Roy inspected his apparatus, made sure his 
telephone was in working order, and got ready 
for an emergency. Late in the day Roy went 
on the bridge to talk to Mr. Young, who was in 
command. Already there were signs of the com- 
ing storm. The wind was soughing ominously 
and rising steadily. The sea was beginning to 
heave. The Lycoming rolled unsteadily. Roy 
thanked his lucky stars that he had gotten his sea- 
legs and could stand rough weather without be- 
ing seasick. He might be needed and he wanted 
to be fit if he were. 

“ What do you think of it? ” asked Roy. 

“ Looks bad to me,” said the first officer. 
“ The barometer is falling fast. Something is 
sure to come out of it. And now’s just the time 
of year when the worst storms hit the Gulf. If 
we can get past the Dry Tortugas before it strikes 
us, we’ll be all right. We’ll have the entire Gulf 
before us then.” 

“ What does the captain think of it? ” inquired 
Roy. 

“ He never says much about what he thinks,” 
replied the big mate, “ but he’s had his eye on the 
barometer all the forenoon, and he’s asleep now, 
so it’s evident what he thinks.” 


SOS 


247 


“ \ ou mean he thinks there’s nothing to worry 
about? ” 

“ I mean just the contrary. If we do have a 
bad storm, the captain will be out here on the 
bridge until it’s over or until he can’t stand any 
longer, and he’s resting up.” 

Roy returned to the wireless house, feeling 
vaguely uneasy. 

Palm Beach was passed early in the afternoon. 
Roy saw that even at her best speed the Lycom- 
ing could hardly reach the Straits before mid- 
night, and it would be close to ten hours more be- 
fore they were safely past the Dry Tortugas. 
Twenty hours must elapse before they were 
through the danger zone and had the wide Gulf 
before them. He hoped that the storm would 
hold off that length of time. 

Sunset saw little change in the weather. 
Wind and wave were far from boisterous. The 
thing that troubled the first officer was the way 
in which the barometer still fell steadily. Late 
in the day he gave an order to make everything 
fast. Roy, chancing to come out of the wireless 
house, saw sailors below battening down hatches, 
lashing every movable object fast, and otherwise 
making things tight. He had never seen that 
done before. At supper Roy noticed that the 
waiters were serious and preoccupied. Somehow 


248 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


a distinct air of apprehension seemed to be 
abroad. And yet there was nothing to be alarmed 
at excepting the steady fall of the barometer. 

Roy went directly from the supper table to his 
instrument and began searching the seas for 
ships. The atmosphere played all sorts of tricks 
with his wireless. One minute he could hear 
nothing and the next he would catch part of a 
message from New York. He got into touch 
with the Mallory liner Comal . She was an- 
chored at Key West. He heard the steamer 
V albanera and talked with her. She was off 
Havana. A terrible storm was raging there and 
the ship’s master was afraid to try to enter the 
harbor. So he had put to sea again. Once Roy 
heard a message sent by the Empress to some 
other ship. The Empress had left Havana for 
Galveston, a new schedule having gone into 
effect. 

“ The captain will see his brother this voyage,” 
thought Roy. “ It will be a happy trip for him.” 

He tried to reach the Empress , but call as he 
would, he could get no response. He talked with 
a number of shore stations, but there seemed to 
be nothing out of the ordinary to report. The 
sea was not very rough and the chances of getting 
nicely through the Straits seemed good. Yet 
Roy could not help feeling apprehensive and de- 


SOS 


249 


pressed. He knew the Gulf was in a tumult off 
Havana. Could he have seen the barometer and 
the sober face of Captain Lansford, who had now 
taken command, he would have known there was 
good cause to feel apprehensive. 

Just when the storm struck the Lycoming , Roy 
never knew. Hour after hour he stuck to the 
wireless house, now listening in, now calling, call- 
ing for ships he knew ought to be within call, but 
which he could not reach. So intent was Roy 
upon his work that he did not hear the rising wind 
or notice the increasing violence of the waves, 
until suddenly the Lycoming staggered and 
heeled far over. The sudden lurch almost threw 
Roy out of his chair. 

He pulled off his receivers and was instantly 
aware that the wind was shrieking about the wire- 
less house with terrific force. The windows 
rattled, the door creaked under its pressure, and 
the entire superstructure of the ship seemed to 
shiver. He could hear the groaning of masts and 
derricks, of life-boats and rafts lashed to the deck, 
of a hundred objects here and there. He thanked 
providence the mate had had things made fast. 
The roll of the rain on the roof was like thunder. 
When Roy rose to his feet he found he could not 
stand without holding to something. At once he 
knew he had never been in such a storm as this. 


250 THE YOIJNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


But it was not until he opened the door of the 
wireless house that he understood how violent the 
storm really was. The instant he turned the latch 
the door flew inward, striking him with great 
force. The wind rushed in with a deafening 
shriek and almost flung him on the floor. The 
rain beat in in torrents. The roar of the ele- 
ments was beyond description. It was a deafen- 
ing welter of sound. Like demons howling in 
agony the winds roared and shrieked. The rain 
beat a terrific monotone on deck and roof. The 
crests of the waves broke before the wind with a 
hissing roar like the thunder of a thousand 
Niagaras. The rigging rattled. Woodwork 
everywhere creaked and groaned. Stays and 
guy lines beat a very devil’s tattoo under the 
awful blasts. All about him, papers, despatches, 
records, clothes, were whirling like dust before a 
swirling wind. With all his might Roy strove 
to shut the door. He was not able to do it. Then 
an awful lurch of the ship flung the door violently 
shut and threw Roy against the opposite wall. 
His chair flew across the room with a crash. The 
remainder of the furniture was fastened to the 
floor. 

Roy picked himself up, righted his chair, and 
attempted to collect the articles scattered by the 
wind. Now he realized how the sea had risen. 


SOS 


251 


Down, down, down, the ship seemed to go. It 
lifted as suddenly, sending Roy staggering 
against the wall. Now it lurched this way, now 
that. Never had he supposed a great ship could 
be pitched about as the Lycoming now was. 
F ar to one side it tilted. As suddenly it shot far 
to the other side. Then it pitched forward. 
Now it seemed as though it was trying to stand 
on its stern. Suddenly it dipped sidewise, fall- 
ing, falling, until Roy cried out in very fear. 
He was sure the ship was turning over. Nor 
was his the only heart that stood still with terror. 
White-faced the man in the pilot-house clung to 
his wheel. 

“Great God!” he muttered. “A sixty-de- 
gree roll,” and waited breathless, like Roy, for 
the ship to right itself. 

Down in the stewards’ quarters the negroes 
were gathered together with blanched faces, 
some praying, some moaning. Amid all this 
welter of wind and wave, Captain Lansford stood 
on the bridge, holding to the rail like grim death, 
the rain falling on his oilskins in torrents, the 
blasts tearing at his garments, as he peered 
through the blinding spray and listened to the 
tumult of the tempest, unmoved, immovable, a 
man of iron with a heart of steel, grappling with 
a tempest. 


252 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


It was the thought of the captain that brought 
courage back to Roy. As the Lycoming hung 
for what seemed an age at that terrifying angle, 
Roy lost his grip on himself. For perhaps the 
first time in his life, he felt physical terror. An 
awful fear gripped his soul. His heart actually 
stopped beating. The blood rushed from his 
cheeks till they were like chalk. He seemed 
paralyzed. He could not even cry out. He 
was completely unmanned. Death was so near 
at hand and the thought of it came so suddenly 
that it overpowered him. Then Roy thought of 
the captain. He knew he was out on the bridge. 
He knew he was facing the awful wind, the driv- 
ing rain, the blinding spray, the danger of being 
washed overboard, and that there he would stand, 
hour after hour defying death and the elements 
to bring the Lycoming safe to port. 

“Thank God for Captain Lansford!” cried 
Roy. “ He’ll win through. He’ll bring us safe 
to port. He’s never failed yet. He won’t fail 
now. Thank God, Captain Lansford is in com- 
mand.” 

The color flew back into Roy’s cheeks. His 
heart began to pound bravely. His pulses beat 
with courage. 

“ We’ve got to help him, every one of us! ” he 
cried aloud. “What can I do? What can I do?” 


SOS 


253 


A still, small voice answered, “ Your duty.” 

“ My duty,” said Roy aloud, “ is right at that 
instrument. That’s my post as long as this storm 
lasts.” 

He shoved his chair across the room, sat down 
at his desk, and clamped the receivers to his ears. 
He was just in time to catch a message. The 
United States Weather Bureau at New Orleans, 
seven hundred miles away, was sending out a 
storm warning to Louisiana coast towns and 
other places along the Gulf which the hurricane 
had not yet reached. “ Tropical disturbance in 
southeastern Gulf moving northwest will cause 
increasing northeast winds.” 

According to rule, Roy jotted down the time 
the message was received. It was just ten 
o’clock. 

“ I wonder if I should give this to the captain,” 
said Roy, with a grin. “ He might like to know 
there’s going to be a storm.” 

Then his face became sober enough and he 
settled to work. For long periods he listened for 
voices in the storm. Again and again he flashed 
out messages to ships that he thought should be 
near, but he could reach nobody. After a time 
he got an answer from the Comal, with which he 
had talked before. She was still fast to her 
moorings in Key West, but in imminent danger 


254 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

of being torn away. Even as Roy talked to her 
it happened. 

“ We’re loose,” flashed her operator to Roy, 
“ and blowing ashore. I’ve got to stand by to 
send messages for the skipper. Good-bye. 
Good luck to you.” 

There were tears in Roy’s eyes as he jotted 
down the message. “ Wishing us good luck 
while he’s going perhaps to his death,” muttered 
Roy. “ He’s a man — as every wireless operator 
ought to be.” And while he listened for other 
signals, he sent up a silent prayer that when the 
pinch came he would be equally brave. 

Meantime the ship staggered on. With the 
stars blotted out, with the seas mounting higher 
and higher, with the wind blowing at hurricane 
force, it was impossible to tell what speed the ship 
was making, whether she was being blown far 
from her course, or where she was. Yet the cap- 
tain must decide all these things and decide them 
right, if the Lycoming was to come through the 
storm in safety. The most hazardous part of her 
journey still lay ahead of her. It would be 
doubly hazardous now because the wind would 
be abeam when she turned west to pass through 
the Straits. 

In the early hours of the morning the motion 
of the ship seemed to alter. For Roy, on the 


SOS 


255 


very top of the vessel, every movement was in- 
tensified. At once he was conscious of this 
altered motion. Before, her movements had 
been mostly violent forward plunges. Now she 
rolled fearfully from side to side. First she 
rolled far over to port. Then she dipped at a 
terrifying angle to starboard. Roy could not 
understand it. After a time it came to him that 
the ship was wallowing in the trough of the 
waves. Had something gone wrong? Had the 
steering-gear broken? Was the ship out of con- 
trol and drifting toward land, even as the Comal 
had done? These and a hundred other questions 
Roy asked himself as he sat breathless at his oper- 
ating table. Should he call the bridge to see if 
the captain wanted the SOS sounded? Small 
chance they would have of getting help in such a 
storm, Roy told himself, when it was all any ship 
could do to keep herself afloat, let alone help an- 
other. All the while Roy was conscious of the 
regular vibration of the ship’s engines. Pres- 
ently it occurred to him that if the ship were un- 
manageable the engines would probably be 
stopped. Then he knew what was wrong. The 
ship had turned west. They were in the Straits. 
The waves were catching the Lycoming abeam. 
The pinch had come. Could the Lycoming sur- 
vive it? 


256 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

Hardly had Roy asked himself the question be- 
fore there was an awful roar. With a noise like 
a thousand thunders a mighty sea struck the Ly- 
coming broadside and poured over her decks. . It 
was the first sea that had come aboard. By in- 
tuition Roy knew what had happened. His 
thoughts reverted to the day when he had ex- 
pressed surprise, almost incredulity, at the pur- 
ser’s statement that waves sometimes swept the 
deck. Thirty feet, the purser had said the waves 
sometimes rose. He wondered how high this 
one was. He knew it was a monster. He won- 
dered what the sea looked like with waves like 
that. He wished it were day so he could see. 
Then he was glad it was not day. He was afraid 
he would be afraid. Whatever happened, he did 
not want to be a coward. The thought of the 
captain on the bridge heartened him. It was 
wonderful how the bare thought of that fearless 
man restored Roy’s courage. 

On and on plunged the Lycoming , ploughing 
through cross-seas, wallowing between mighty 
waves, fighting her way through a welter of wa- 
ter such as Roy had never dreamed of. Hour 
by hour, the force of the wind increased. The 
seas mounted higher. The ship labored more 
heavily. Time and again great waves swept 
over her. Her bulwarks were smashed. Rail- 


SOS 


257 


ings and woodwork were torn away. Iron 
stanchions were bent like wire. The bridge was 
battered. The waters clawed at her hull and the 
winds tore at her superstructure. But unflinch- 
ing, unyielding, undaunted, gripping the rail 
with grasp of iron, the captain stood on the 
bridge, master of wave and wind. 

Never had Roy welcomed daylight as he wel- 
comed the dawn next morning. All night long he 
had sat at his instrument, waiting, waiting, wait- 
ing for the moment when he might be needed. A 
hundred times he had pictured the sea to himself ; 
but his wildest picture was tame in comparison 
with the actual scene as revealed by the light of 
dawn. The confusion of the waters was beyond 
conception. Mountain high the seas were piling 
up. Under the awful blasts of wind they rushed 
forward like frenzied demons, frothing, seething, 
hissing, roaring, climbing up and up until the 
hurricane tore their tops away, flinging the spray 
like tropic rain in blinding sheets. Again and 
again Roy watched with bated breath as a mon- 
ster wave bore down on the ship, rising higher 
and higher, until it plunged forward on the Ly- 
coming with a crash, shaking the sturdy ship from 
stem to stern. The roar of the elements was 
deafening. Beyond all power of imagination, 
the tempest was awful. 


258 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


Hour by hour the stanch vessel fought her way 
through the maelstrom. The wind tended ever 
to blow her toward the keys and shoals that 
menaced on the north, but the man on the bridge 
kept pointing her into the wind. No land was 
visible. Neither was the sun. It was impossible 
to take a reckoning and determine the ship’s 
position. Yet with that instinct born of years of 
experience, the captain allowed for the drift, 
gauged the ship’s speed, and kept her on her 
course. Noon should normally have seen her far 
past the Dry Tortugas. It was hours later when 
the Lycoming actually reached them. For a few 
minutes the rain ceased and the air cleared. 
Again and again the man on the bridge swept the 
horizon with his glasses. Finally he glimpsed 
land. That one glance told him all he wanted to 
know. He had seen a landmark on the Dry 
Tortugas. He knew he was only slightly off 
his course. At once he rectified his position. 
The wide Gulf was now before him and, barring 
accident, he knew he should come through safely. 
But he was traveling with the hurricane. He did 
not run through it, but advanced with it. So the 
storm continued hour after hour without abate- 
ment. 

Late in the day, Roy sought food. If he had 
thought the storm terrible, within the shelter of 


SOS 


259 


the wireless house, he had no words to describe 
it now as he stood in the open, exposed to the 
elements. Clutching the rail with all his strength, 
bending low before the gale, Roy advanced foot 
by foot. He was almost afraid to go down the 
ladder lest he be pitched headlong into the hiss- 
ing seas. A step at a time he descended, hugging 
the ladder tenaciously. Then, crouching close to 
the superstructure of the ship, he fought his way 
against an awful wind until he reached a door. 
In another second he was inside, trembling all 
over from the violence of his efforts and his close 
contact with the storm. When he remembered 
that for twenty hours the captain had stood on 
the bridge, facing that awful wind and those 
crashing seas, he was speechless with admiration. 
It was more than admiration. It was almost 
worship. A burning desire came into his heart 
to do something in return for the captain. 

Roy got some food and the steward provided 
him with a little bag of provisions so that he need 
not leave the wireless house again until the storm 
was over. Then Roy crept back up the ladder 
and flung himself on his bed. 

He slept for hours. During that time the ship 
staggered on. All day and all night the hurri- 
cane raged, and all the next day and the next 
night. For forty-eight hours Captain Lansford 


260 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

never left the bridge. Then, utterly exhausted, 
he staggered to his cabin and dropped asleep, 
while Mr. Young took command. For twenty- 
four hours the captain lay like one dead. Then 
he returned to the bridge and again took com- 
mand. During all that time the storm continued 
without abatement. The seas climbed higher 
every hour under the terrific lashing of the 
tempest. 

Roy spent long hours at his post. Indeed, he 
hardly laid aside his receivers except when he 
snatched a little sleep. He got into touch with 
the Comal again and learned that she had been 
beached by the wind, but that no one was hurt. 
The British oil tanker Tonawanda had been 
scuttled to save the Comal * The steamer Gram- 
pus and the schooner E. V. Drew had gone down 
in the harbor, while Key West itself was pros- 
trated. Three hundred and twenty houses, to- 
gether with stores, churches, and other buildings 
had been demolished. The wind had reached 
a velocity of 110 miles an hour. From other 
stations Roy learned of other damage. The 
town of Gould was virtually razed. The wire- 
less station at Fort Taylor was wrecked. Towns 
all along the eastern Gulf shore were badly dam- 
aged by the awful wind. When Roy learned that 
the Valbanera had gone down with all on board. 


SOS 


261 


his face was very sober indeed. But for Cap- 
tain Lansford, thought Roy, the Lycoming , too, 
might now be somewhere on the bottom of the 
Gulf. 

Another day passed. The hurricane blew with 
undiminished force. With every hour of wind 
the seas grew higher. But the Lycoming 
weathered both wind and wave. She was draw- 
ing near her destination. Her harbor was not 
many hours distant. But could she make it? 
Would she dare try to run between those walls 
of stone in such a sea? Would she not have to 
put back into the open Gulf, like the V albaner a , 
and try to ride out the storm ? These and a hun- 
dred other questions Roy asked himself when he 
realized that the Lycoming was drawing near 
to Galveston. Then he thought of the sea-wall 
and felt thankful it was there. If the Lycoming 
had withstood the tempest, he felt sure the sea- 
wall had, too. He shuddered to think what 
would have happened had there been no sea- 
wall. 

All the time Roy was working with his instru- 
ments, trying to pick up news, listening for 
voices in the air. Again and again he had tried 
to get into touch with Galveston, but in vain. 
It was not until the middle of the afternoon that 
he finally reached the Marconi man there. It 


262 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOK 


was late Saturday afternoon. The Galveston 
operator said the storm was then at its worst. 
The sea was beating furiously at the sea-wall. 
The wind was blowing nearly seventy miles an 
hour. The barometer was way below thirty. 
But the city was safe. He did not believe it 
would be wise to attempt to enter the harbor with 
such a sea running. 

“Another night of it,” groaned Roy to him- 
self, as the Galveston man flashed good-bye. “ I 
hope I never see another storm like this. I’ll 
have to give this news to the captain.” 

Roy laid aside his receivers and picked up his 
telephone. His signal was answered by the cap- 
tain. 

“ Galveston man says storm at its height there 
now,” telephoned Roy. “ Does not think it safe 
to try to enter harbor. Seventy-mile wind blow- 
ing.” 

There was no reply. The captain had turned 
away from the telephone in anger. He was the 
judge of whether to enter the harbor or not, and 
not some landlubber sitting where he couldn’t 
even see the water. 

Roy adjusted his receivers again. Hardly 
were they in place before a sound crackled in his 
ears, “ SOS— SOS— SOS.” 

It galvanized Roy into action. The blood 


SOS 


263 


surged through his heart. With eager, trem- 
bling fingers he flung back a reply. 

“ Who are you? I have your signal of dis- 
tress.” 

For what seemed an age he waited for an an- 
swer. Outside, the wind was howling like a pack 
of demons. The wireless house shook and trem- 
bled under its awful blasts. The ship) plunged 
from side to side. Roy clung to his table as he 
sat, tense and rigid, waiting for a reply. 

“ Who are you? ” he flashed again. “ I have 
your signal of distress.” 

Again he waited. Would the wireless play 
him false at such a critical minute? Were the 
atmospherics to trick him again? 

Then it came. “ Steamer Empress. Rudder 
broken. Drifting helpless.” 

“ Where are you? ” flashed back Roy. “ What 
is your latitude and longitude? ” 

Crash! Bang! A terrible sea swept over the 
Lycoming. She heeled far over. Something 
had given way. Something was wrong with his 
wireless. Trembling, Roy ran to his door and 
peered out. His aerial was gone. It might take 
hours perhaps to rig a new one, even if he could 
get it up in the gale. What should he do? He 
must get the Empress 9 reply. Roy leaped to the 
deck. The broken lead-in wire was whipping in 


264 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


the wind. Quick as thought, he snatched it up 
and ran back into the wireless house with it. He 
scraped the insulation from the broken end and 
dived under his couch. In a second he had at- 
tached the end of the wire to the couch spring. 
In another he was back at his table, receivers 
clamped to his head. Tense, breathless, rigid, 
he listened. Would it work? Could he hear? 

Then it came. “ Latitude 28. Longitude 96.” 

That was all he needed. Throwing his re- 
ceivers aside, Roy picked up his telephone. 
Again he signaled the bridge. There was no 
response. He signaled sharply. No answer 
came. Again and again Roy tried to get the 
captain. The telephone was silent. Either it 
had been broken or the captain had been washed 
away by the awful sea that had struck the ship. 
In either case there was nothing to do but take 
the message to the bridge himself. Roy leaped 
to his feet and ran out of the wireless house, 
utterly forgetful of wind and wave. Slipping, 
scrambling, clutching rails and stanchions, Roy 
fought his way forward. There was but one 
thought in his mind — to get the news to the cap- 
tain. The latter was still at his post, though the 
bridge rail was partly gone and the wheel-house 
was stove in. The telephone apparatus was 
smashed beyond recognition. Putting his mouth 


SOS 


265 


to the captain’s ear, Roy shouted, “ Steamer 
Empress drifting with broken rudder. Lati- 
tude 28 ; longitude 96.” 

The captain looked at him incredulously. 

“ She left Havana before her usual time,” 
shouted Roy. “ New schedule.” 

For a single instant Captain Lansford bent 
his piercing eyes on Roy. “ Stand by to send a 
message,” he roared. Then he sprang for the 
chart house. 


CHAPTER XVI 


LATITUDE 28 — LONGITUDE 96 

R OY rushed after him. “ My aerial has 
carried away, sir,” he shouted. “ I cannot 
send a message until it is repaired.” 

“ Fix it,” bellowed the captain, turning to his 
charts. 

Roy fought his way back to the wireless house, 
pausing on the way to appraise the damage. The 
aerial was entirely gone, spreaders and all. For- 
tunately the halyards that held them aloft were 
intact. Roy hurried on to the wireless house. 
His closet was full of repair material. He got 
out two spreaders, a coil of wire, some insulators, 
and other needed materials. With remarkable 
celerity he attached his wires to the spreader, 
united them to a new lead-in wire and spliced 
them to what was left of the old wire. It was 
almost dark by the time he finished his repairs. 
When all was ready, he struggled out with his 
new aerial, and bent it to the halyards. In a few 
moments it was swinging aloft. Roy watched it 
for a minute as the tempest tore at it, to see if it 
would hold. Nothing gave way. 

266 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 267 

The captain, meantime, had snatched up a 
chart. “Latitude 28, longitude 96,” he repeated, 
as he ran his finger over the chart. His ruddy 
face whitened as he found the spot. “ Only 
thirty-five miles off a lee shore,” he muttered, 
“ and one hundred and thirty miles from here. 
Can I get to him in time? ” 

He turned to the man at the wheel and laid a 
new course for him. Then he sprang to a speak- 
ing-tube and ordered the chief engineer to crowd 
on every ounce of steam he could make. As the 
steersman swung the Lycoming to her new course 
she heeled far over. Then she righted and rode 
more steadily than before. The tempest had 
changed from northwest to west and the Lycom- 
ing was racing along almost with it. Though 
not directly astern, waves and wind were both 
driving the Lycoming forward. Soon she was 
tearing through the water at a rate she had 
never known before. Her very speed steadied 
her. 

Roy, meantime, had rushed into the wireless 
house to test his apparatus. It appeared to work 
perfectly. Satisfied, he battled his way to the 
bridge again and reported to the captain. 

“ The damage is repaired, sir.” 

The captain showed him the positions on the 
chart. “ Tell Charley we’re coming,” he roared. 


268 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ Find out just where he is, how he got there* 
and what he’s doing.” 

Roy left the bridge and faced toward the wire- 
less house. Now he was heading almost straight 
into the wind. It seemed to him the tempest was 
worse than ever. He could not advance a step. 
Desperately he clung to a stanchion. He dared 
not try to walk across the few feet of deck to 
the hand-rail on the superstructure lest he be 
picked up bodily and flung into the sea. He 
dropped to his knees, and fairly hugging the deck, 
crept fearfully over to the rail. There he was 
partly sheltered from the direct blasts. Crouch- 
ing low and pulling himself along with arms and 
feet, he fought his way to the wireless house. It 
did not seem possible that a wind could be so 
terrible. 

Roy adjusted his receivers, threw over his 
switch, and sent the Empress’ call signal flash- 
ing forth. “ KKK — KKK — KKK de WNA.” 

Then he waited anxiously. Would he get a 
reply, or would the atmospherics trick him again? 
At one hundred and thirty miles’ distance he 
ought to communicate with the Empress easily. 
He was not long in suspense. Promptly a wire- 
less signal buzzed in his ears. 

“ WNA de KKK. Have been calling you 
steadily.” 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 


269 


“ KKK de WNA,” flashed back Roy. “ My 
aerial carried away. Got your position all right. 
Tell your captain the Lycoming is rushing to 
help you. We are a few hours east of Galveston 
and one hundred and thirty miles from the posi- 
tion you signaled. We must be making twenty 
knots an hour. Should reach you in five to six 
hours. Keep us informed of your position. Are 
you all right? How did you get there? What 
are you doing? ” 

“ WNA de KKK,” came back the reply. 
“ Empress reached Galveston early this morn- 
ing. Sea too rough to enter port. Headed into 
Gulf to ride out storm. Broke rudder six hours 
ago. Drifted four hours, then put down anchors, 
but dragging fast. Captain couldn’t get ob- 
servation. Position given obtained by dead- 
reckoning. Trying to repair damage. Sea too 
high to do much. Ship all right so far. No 
land in sight. Change in wind helpful. Blow- 
ing us toward shore at long angle. Captain 
reckons six to eight hours before we ground. 
Reckons we are dragging straight toward Corpus 
Christi.” 

“ KKK de WNA,” signaled back Roy. “Will 
report to captain. Will call you every quarter 
hour. Good luck.” 

Once more Roy made the perilous trip to the 


270 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

bridge. “ Come inside,” shouted the captain, 
dragging Roy within the wheel-house. Roy de- 
livered his message and the captain listened with- 
out comment. 

“Any message, Captain? ” asked Roy. 

“No. Keep in close touch with them/’ 

“ I have already arranged to call them every 
quarter hour/’ 

“ Good. Go back to your post.” 

“ How shall I know if you want me? ” 

“ I’ll send a messenger.” 

Roy hurried from the wheel-house and vanished 
in the dark. Hour after hour the Lycoming 
raced toward the Empress. The seas were as 
mountainous and the winds as fierce as any the 
Lycoming had encountered, but the ship was 
running with them and its passage was less rough 
than it had been at any time since the tempest 
struck her. Unable to see the waves any longer, 
Roy almost believed that the storm was subsid- 
ing. Every quarter hour Roy called the Em- 
press. At each call he got back the same reply. 
The Empress was battered but still safe. She 
was dragging her anchors. Every time Roy 
talked to her, the signals seemed more distinct. 
There could be no question that the Lycoming 
was getting nearer. 

Four hours passed. A terrified darky cabin- 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 


271 


boy crept into the wireless house. “ De cap’ll 
say tell de Empress to show her search-light,” he 
said. 

Roy signaled the Empress, “ Show your search- 
light.” 

Back came the answer, “ Search-light out of 
commission.” 

“Tell the captain the Empress ’ search-light is 
broken,” said Roy to the young darky. 

“ Does I haf to go back to de cap’n, Mr. Mer- 
cer? ” cried the colored boy, shaking with fright. 

“ No,” said Roy, jumping to his feet. “ Stay 
here,” and he disappeared in the darkness. 

“ Tell ’em to burn lights and send up rockets 
every few minutes,” ordered the captain, when 
Roy had delivered his message. 

Roy regained the wireless house and signaled 
the Empress. 

“ We’ve been doing that for hours,” came back 
the reply. “ Supply almost exhausted.” 

Again Roy had to fight his way to the bridge 
with the message. It might be important for the 
captain to know about the lights. 

Another hour passed. The Empress was not 
within sight. For half an hour longer the cap- 
tain held to his course. Then he headed the 
Lycoming nearer shore. Another half hour 
passed. The Empress was still invisible. 


272 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

Then an able-bodied seaman appeared in the 
wireless house and said, “ The captain says to 
see if you can find out anything about the loca- 
tion of the Empress, sir.” 

Into Roy’s mind flashed the remembrance of 
the fog off Hatteras. He had located the Merri- 
mack in the fog. The captain must believe he 
could also find the Empress by wireless. It was 
a great opportunity. 

“ Tell him I’ll try,” said Roy. 

The seaman started for the bridge. Roy 
dropped his head in his hands and began to think. 
How could he locate the Empress ? A direction 
finder such as they had in the search for the secret 
wireless would do the trick at once. But he had 
no direction finder. Then Roy remembered how 
the wireless patrol had improvised a direction 
finder during the hunt for the dynamiters at 
Camp Brady. He had helped make that instru- 
ment. He could make another. Before he began, 
he decided to call up the Empress again. Hardly 
had he adjusted his receivers before a signal 
crackled in his ears. 

“ WNA de KKK. Can see a search-light. 
Is it yours? ” 

“ Will have the light swung in an arc three 
times. Watch,” flashed back Roy. 

The seaman had not returned, and again Roy 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 273 

had to go to the bridge. “ Swing the search-light 
overhead in an arc three times,” shouted Roy. 
“ The Empress thinks she sees us.” Then Roy 
added, “ Please send a seaman to carry messages 
for me.” 

The great beam of light that had been boring 
into the darkness ahead swung round to star- 
board, then slowly traveled in an arc directly over 
the Lycoming until it came to rest on the seething 
waters to port. Then it retraced its path. A 
third time it circled overhead, lighting up the 
heavy canopy of clouds. Meantime Roy had re- 
gained the wireless house. Trembling with 
eagerness, he clamped his receivers to his ears and 
listened. 

“ WNA de KKK,” presently came a signal. 
“ It’s your light. We saw it swing overhead 
three times. Can see its beams now.” 

“ Get a compass bearing on it and signal me,” 
flashed Roy. 

In a few minutes the answer came. “ Almost 
due east.” 

Roy sent the news to the captain. “ She’s 
dragged more than I thought possible,” muttered 
the captain as he entered the chart house. Then, 
turning to the steersman, he ordered, “ Starboard 
— head her due west.” 

Twenty minutes later lights flashed out di- 


274 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


rectly ahead of the Lycoming , then disappeared 
again. It was the Empress as she rose and fell 
with the waves. She was only a few miles dis- 
tant. A few minutes later the Lycoming was 
close to her. 

To Roy, watching from the wireless house, it 
did not seem humanly possible that the Lycoming 
could assist the Empress . The latter lay with 
her nose to the storm, rising and falling with the 
waves and rolling violently. Roy could see two 
great anchor chains leading down into the water. 
Most of the time the Empress rode the huge 
swells buoyantly. But occasionally the crest of 
a great wave broke over her and went rushing aft 
with an awful roar, smashing woodwork and 
twisting iron. As the Lycoming’s search-light 
played on the Empress Roy could see that her 
bulwarks and rails were smashed to pieces. All 
but one of her small boats had carried away. 
Her life-rafts were gone. Part of the railing 
about the bridge was smashed. To Roy she 
seemed all but battered to pieces. To an experi- 
enced sailor like Captain Lansford, she appeared 
to be in good shape. The ship herself was intact. 

How any earthly power could get lines aboard 
of her, or how it could tow her in the teeth of such 
a gale, even if the lines were got aboard, was more 
than Roy could understand. He did not believe 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 


276 


it possible. He did not believe any small boat 
could exist for one minute in that raging sea. 
Yet he knew very well that Captain Lansford in- 
tended to assist the Empress. What he would 
do Roy could not conceive. All he could do was 
to watch and learn. 

For some time Roy could not see that anything 
was being done. The Lycoming reduced her 
speed, but kept steadily on past the Empress. 
Then she began to swing around her in a wide 
arc. Roy believed the captain meant to ap- 
proach close to the ship from the leeward side. 
But when the Lycoming continued to circle 
slowly around the Empress , Roy was puzzled. 

The Lycoming swung completely round the 
Empress , but not until the circuit had been com- 
pleted did Roy get an inkling of what the captain 
was doing. The search-light played here and 
there, now picking out the path of the Lycom- 
ing now illuminating the Empress , which tossed 
violently at the very centre of the huge circle the 
Lycoming had just traced. To his intense sur- 
prise Roy saw that the water within this circle 
was calming down. It rose and fell as mightily 
as ever, but no seas broke. Giant waves mounted 
higher and higher, gathering volume and power 
as they rushed down on the Empress , but instead 
of breaking with a crash and hurling tons of 


276 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


water at the helpless steamer, they subsided with- 
out foam or fuss. It was as though some invis- 
ible hand had spread a great, elastic blanket over 
the face of the seething waters. They billowed 
and tossed beneath this invisible blanket, but they 
billowed and tossed harmlessly. The power of 
the waves to smash things was gone. Amazed, 
incredulous, disbelieving the very thing his eyes 
beheld, Roy watched the miracle that was being 
performed. Finally it came to him that Captain 
Lansford was putting oil on the sea. 

In the nose of the Lycoming sailors had been at 
work for hours preparing to perform the miracle 
that Roy was watching. Great, cone-shaped 
bags had been made of canvas and stuffed with 
oakum. The oakum had been saturated with 
storm oil. The bags had been suspended over 
the forward wash-basins so that at the proper 
time their contents could drain into the sea. Ad- 
ditional supplies of oil stood at hand in cans. 
Long before the Lycoming came abreast of the 
Empress, Captain Lansford had everything in 
readiness to spread abroad the oil film that was 
now taming the seas before Roy’s astonished 
vision. At the proper moment word was passed 
to start the oil. With coarse sailmakers’ needles 
the canvas cones were punctured and the oil be- 
gan to flow. Drip, drip, drip, drip, it fell into 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 277 

the wash-basins and made its way down the drain- 
pipes to the sea, hushing the boisterous breakers 
even as Christ stilled the waters with His com- 
mand, “ Peace. Be still.” 

Three times the Lycoming circled th eEmpress, 
each time at a greater distance, until the waters 
for a mile about the crippled liner were coated 
with oil. Then Captain Lansford brought the 
Lycoming as close as he dared to the Empress, 
which lay directly to leeward. A great life-boat 
was unlashed and made ready for launching. Up 
to this time Roy had remained in the wireless 
house. Now he made his way to the deck, where 
some sailors were gathered beside the life-boat. 
The captain stood on the bridge with a mega- 
phone in his hand. He roared out a call for vol- 
unteers to man the boat. There was a rush for 
the smaller craft. Without pausing to consider, 
Roy leaped into the boat. He found himself 
seated beside the sailor who had come to the wire- 
less house with the captain’s message. The boat 
was manned almost before Roy was fairly seated. 
The third officer sat in the stern to steer her. 

The captain was scanning the sea critically. 
“ Launch her! ” he bellowed suddenly. 

The boat swung outboard and dropped on the 
smooth crest of a wave. The tackles were cast 
loose and all hands gave way with the oars that 


278 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


their tiny craft might not be smashed against the 
Lycoming's side. Before the next wave rose 
they were at a safe distance from the Lycoming. 
The lines they were to take to the Empress trailed 
astern. 

From the deck of the Lycoming the oily sea 
had seemed comparatively peaceful. Once Roy 
was on it in a small boat, he found it was terrible. 
The little life-boat was tossed about like a cork 
in a boiling caldron. Now it shot high in the air, 
lifted by some mighty roller. Now it dropped 
down, down, down, until Roy thought it would 
surely go to the bottom. Once away from the 
protection of the Lycoming , the life-boat felt the 
full force of the wind. It seemed to Roy the 
blasts would jerk him from his seat and throw 
him into the maelstrom. Now the boat bobbed 
this way. Now she ducked the other way. A 
feather whirling in the tempest could hardly have 
been more unstable. 

In such a sea none but an expert oarsman could 
wield a great oar such as Roy now grasped. 
Had he been the least bit awkward with it, he 
might easily have caused disaster. Roy realized 
that at once and thanked his lucky stars that he 
had learned to row well that first summer in camp 
at Fort Brady. Now he gave way smoothly and 
with power. Through the darkness he tried to 


LATITUDE 28— LONGITUDE 96 279 

see the stroke oar and pull in unison. The 
search-light pointed its powerful ray over their 
heads, lighting the way for the steersman. It 
was useless to call the strokes of the oars. In the 
shrieking wind no earthly voice could have been 
heard. There was nothing to do but sit tight and 
pull. 

Slowly the boat forged through the seething 
sea. It neared the Empress , which seemed to 
bulk as huge as a mountain. Painfully the little 
craft fought her way to the leeward side of the 
Empress and crept as near as she dared. Lines 
were flung from the Empress . They were bent 
to those the life-boat was towing. Slowly these 
were hauled to the ship, and the crew began to 
pull on the heavy hawsers to which the life-boat 
lines were attached. The Ey coming’s boat 
worked its way along the lee side of the Empress, 
toward the davits that had been swung outboard 
to lift it. Suddenly there was a great outcry 
aboard the Empress . The anchor chains had 
snapped. At once all hands were called forward 
to pull on the hawsers. Unless they were got 
aboard the Empress was doomed. 

Straightway the wind drove her directly to- 
ward the little life-boat. With all their might 
the men in the boat pulled away from the ship, 
which would have crushed them like an egg-shell. 


280 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


In a moment they had passed from under her 
protecting side and found themselves pitching 
wildly on the inky waves. To get back to the 
Lycoming was impossible. To try to gain the 
Empress was worse than useless. To stay where 
they were was folly. The only hope of safety 
lay in scudding before the storm. Instantly the 
third officer’s decision was taken. 

“ Give way,” he roared, and as the crew bent to 
their oars, he swept the tiny boat around. In 
another moment the little craft was racing before 
the tempest, tossing wildly, but thanks to the oil 
film, riding buoyantly and safely. Rapidly the 
Empress and the Lycoming fell astern. Soon 
they were lost to sight. Above the life-boat the 
night was inky black. About her the waters 
heaved and roared. Ahead of her lay the wild 
sea, with its awful waves and its fearful, crashing 
combers. 


CHAPTER XVII 


LAND AHEAD! 

O N rushed the little craft. Aboard the Ly- 
coming the seas had seemed terrible. To 
Roy, in an open boat, they were stupefying in 
their awfulness. No power of imagination could 
conjure up anything so terrific as this hellish 
welter of water. It hissed and seethed and 
roared and tumbled. It boiled up in fury. It 
was paralyzing in its awfulness. It benumbed 
mind and body. Terrified, aghast, Roy huddled 
down in his seat. Then he thought of the cap- 
tain. His courage came back. The blood again 
coursed through his veins. He gripped his oar 
and bent to his task with a will. He did not be- 
lieve he would ever reach the shore. But if he 
were to die, he meant to die like a man. He 
thought of the wireless operator on the Comal 
who had bidden him good luck even as he was 
drifting to what seemed certain death. Roy took 
a last look at the Empress. “ Good luck! ” he 
shouted, then bent to his oar. 

281 


282 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


The wind snatched the words out of his mouth. 
The man beside him did not know he had spoken. 
The clamor of the elements drowned all other 
sounds. Conversation was impossible. The 
mate at the stern could not make his orders heard. 
There was nothing to do but sit tight and row. 
That helped to steady the boat. 

On they went. Now they were down in the 
trough of a wave. Now they were on a moun- 
tainous crest. Thanks to the oil slick, no water 
came aboard. But the edge of the oil film was 
near at hand. Straight ahead of them Roy knew 
the waves were breaking with awful violence. 
Soon they would be among those unbridled crests. 
Let but one of them come toppling down upon 
the little boat and all would be over. Roy gritted 
his teeth at the thought. “ At any rate I’ll die 
game,” he muttered. 

The life-boat mounted upward. Up and up it 
climbed on the slope of a huge comber. It 
reached the top. 

“ Lights ahead! ” cried the mate, who was fac- 
ing forward. “Lights ahead!” 

A single oarsman caught the words. From 
man to man it was shouted the length of the boat. 
“ Lights ahead! ” The life-boat topped the wave 
and plunged forward into the trough. Again it 
climbed upward. The mate strained his eyes 


LAND AHEAD ! 


283 


through the blackness. This time he saw many 
lights stretching for a long distance. 

“Land ahead!” he roared. Again the cry 
was carried forward from man to man, “ Land 
ahead! ” 

Hope sprang up in Roy’s heart. If they could 
see lights from a little boat, the lights must be 
near at hand. Poor Roy ! He did not know the 
lights were high on a bluff and could be seen for 
miles. “We’re going to make it!” he cried to 
himself, and fresh courage came to him. 

The little boat shot past the protecting oil slick. 
Roy knew it in a second, even though he could see 
nothing in the darkness. At once the waters be- 
came frenzied. The little craft no longer 
smoothly rode the swells. She was tossed like a 
chip in a whirlpool. The waters boiled up under 
her, seethed around her, and came together with 
terrific impact. The waves broke with a surging 
roar past description. To make matters worse, 
the wind shifted, coming directly off shore. Roy 
noted the fact with j,ov. It might mean the sal- 
vation of the Empress. Spray filled the air. It 
flew in blinding, drenching torrents before the 
blast. It soaked the oarsmen. It began to fill 
their boat. The awful wind chilled the rowers to 
the bone. Yet all the time they advanced. De- 
spite the wind, the waves and the power of their 


284 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


own efforts flung them shoreward at an incredible 
pace. The lights were coming nearer. 

Dawn was approaching, too. Low on the 
horizon the rowers saw the first faint streaks of 
light. Their courage increased. They bent to 
their oars with renewed strength. As the light 
grew, the man at the helm began to pick out ob- 
jects ahead of him. The distant land was faintly 
silhouetted against the pale morning sky. In- 
tently he watched, looking for familiar land- 
marks. Suddenly he knew where he was. The 
little boat was driving straight for Corpus 
Christi. 

He began to hope that they might reach shore 
in safety. He knew the harbor well. Mustang 
Island was dead ahead. Aransas Pass was only 
slightly to starboard. If he could work the boat 
over sufficiently, they might shoot through the 
pass into Corpus Christi Bay and safety. Could 
he do it? 

He leaned against his steering oar and skilfully 
pointed the life-boat’s nose a bit to starboard. 
The wind was no longer dead ahead and the craft 
was no longer running directly with the waves. 
She was quartering, cutting through them at an 
angle. This was dangerous, but necessary to 
ultimate safety. If she could advance a few 
hundred yards to starboard the channel would be 


LAND AHEAD ! 


286 


dead ahead and she could run to safety straight 
before the waves. 

She had almost gained her distance when a 
monster wave broke just behind her. A thou- 
sand tons of water came crashing down on the 
rowers. Boat and oarsmen disappeared from 
sight, and the wave rushed on shoreward. 

Down, down, down into the seething vortex 
went the crew. Roy thought he would never 
come to the surface. He tried to fight his way 
upward but the swirling water sucked him down. 
He felt as though his lungs would burst. Just 
when he thought he could hold his breath no 
longer, his head popped above the water. He 
gasped for air, then looked about him for his com- 
panions. 

The boat, overturned, floated near by. Oars 
were bobbing here and there on the waves. One 
by one his companions came up. Roy counted 
heads. All were there but the mate. Something 
bumped Roy violently from behind. He turned 
around. The mate, unconscious, had just come 
to the surface. His own oar had knocked him 
senseless as the boat capsized. 

Roy grabbed the mate by the hair and called 
for help. Nobody heard him. Everybody was 
swimming for the overturned boat. A long oar 
was floating near Roy. He grabbed it, and 


286 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


shoving it ahead of him, fought his way to a 
second oar, towing the mate behind him. The 
struggle, though brief, was so violent that it al- 
most exhausted him. He got an oar under each 
of the mate’s arms. Then slowly treading water 
and holding fast to the two oars himself, he tried 
to recover his strength. 

Presently the mate regained consciousness. 
Pie grabbed the oars convulsively. He did not 
know that Roy was behind him until he tried to 
swim and his feet struck him. The mate looked 
around and saw Roy. He comprehended the 
situation at a glance. Roy had saved his life. 
He also saw that their best chance lay in getting 
to the overturned craft. 

“ To the boat! ” he shouted, taking one oar and 
leaving the other for Roy. Then he struck off 
toward the life-boat. The two fought their way 
back to their comrades, all of whom had reached 
the boat. 

They were trying to right it, but the task 
proved impossible. Evidently there was consid- 
erable air under the boat, for her bottom was high 
out of water and she was riding the waves buoy- 
antly. One by one they crawled up on the boat 
and lay flat on their bellies, clinging desperately 
to the heaving craft. Again and again men slid 
back into the sea. Their comrades pulled them 


LAND AHEAD ! 


287 


up again. Once every soul was washed over- 
board by a breaking wave but all got back. 

The cold wind chilled them to the bone, be- 
numbing them. In comparison, the sea felt 
warm. Finally Roy was so cold he could endure 
it no longer. He slid from the boat’s bottom and 
gripping her keel, clung just astern. Only his 
head and arms were above water. Gradually he 
grew warmer. 

Dawn changed to the full light of day. As 
every wave lifted them up, the shipwrecked 
mariners could plainly see the land before them. 
They could even make out the terrific surges as 
the waves broke on the shores of Mustang and 
Rockport Islands. They knew, unless the end 
came sooner, that there was where the pinch 
would come — when they had reached the long, 
sloping beach and were being pounded by the 
terrific surf. For the sea was bearing them 
slowly toward land. 

An hour passed. They were appreciably 
nearer land though still far from shore. Another 
hour went by. Now they were near enough to 
shore to distinguish small objects on land. The 
breakers were not far distant. It was close to 
eight o’clock, though no one in the group knew 
what the hour was, when the sea began suddenly 
to move shoreward in a mysterious, irresistible 


288 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


fashion. As though power had been applied to 
it, the overturned boat started toward the land. 
Roy tried to scramble up on it. A small wave, 
traveling shoreward with terrific velocity, banged 
Roy against the craft, then tore him loose from it, 
swept over the boat, and sped shoreward. The 
men clung to the boat frantically. Not one was 
washed off. The mate was still grasping an oar. 
He flung it to Roy, who grabbed it and tried to 
swim back to the life-boat. The current swept 
him away, but both Roy and his comrades were 
borne rapidly and irresistibly forward, as wave 
after wave, each higher than its predecessor, 
rolled in from the sea, carrying everything before 
them. 

Through the blinding spray and the heaving 
waters, Roy tried to see where he was going. 
He could feel himself being carried forward at 
great speed. He knew he must soon come to 
land. But the thought of the breakers sickened 
him. The current had drifted him opposite Mus- 
tang Island again. Straight in he drove, but the 
pounding breakers seemed to diminish as Roy 
drew near them. Then they disappeared alto- 
gether. In another minute Roy was floating 
over what, a short time before, had been Mustang 
Island. For the first time he realized that he 
was in the grasp of a tidal wave. Instantly he 


LAND AHEAD ! 


289 


thought of Galveston and wondered if Corpus 
Christi was to suffer as its sister city had done. 

But he had small opportunity to think about 
anything save his own safety. Before Roy knew 
it he was in the midst of a struggling herd of 
cattle. Even above the roar of the storm he 
could hear their frenzied bellowing as the sea 
swept over their grazing-grounds and carried 
them into Corpus Christi Bay. More dangerous 
than the sea was the furious struggling of these 
frantic animals. With all his might Roy strove 
to get clear of them. Avoiding striking hoof and 
plunging horn, he swam to one side of the herd, 
and the current soon swept him clear of them. 

But in his flight he lost his oar. He had now 
only his own exertions to sustain himself. And 
his violent efforts to get free of the cattle had 
tired him utterly. He must find something to 
help float him and find it soon. He began to 
look about him. The bay was full of wreckage. 
A dark object rolling in the waves at a distance 
attracted Roy. It looked like an overturned 
boat. Roy swam for it. As he approached, a 
wave partly righted it. Roy saw before him a 
good-sized launch. It lifted still farther out of 
water and he caught the name Waldo . Then the 
craft rolled back until only one side was visible 
above the flood. But that was enough to sustain 


290 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


Roy, and with a thankful heart he crawled up on 
the stricken launch and lay down on it at full 
length. 

The current bore him on and on and great 
waves continued to roll in from the sea. The 
wind was blowing as violently as any wind Roy 
had encountered in all the days of storm through 
which he had passed. But within the land- 
locked bay the waves were pigmies compared to 
the giant rollers in the Gulf. Furthermore, the 
inrushing tidal wave seemed to beat down and 
flatten all opposing waves. Roy felt sure that 
he would now reach the shore in safety. 

Presently his strength came back to him. He 
sat up and looked about him. Already the in- 
rushing tide had carried him far up the bay. He 
judged that this might be eight or ten miles wide. 
How long it was he could not guess, though he 
was certain that its length must be at least double 
its width. Far to the west he could dimly see 
there was a city. There were high bluffs there 
and he felt sure that he saw buildings. But the 
blinding spray made his vision uncertain. 

Wreckage floated on all sides of him. Tele- 
phone-poles, uprooted trees, fence-posts, logs, 
planks, roofs, doorsteps, porches, parts of build- 
ings, and a thousand other floating objects filled 
the bay. The farther Roy traveled, the more nu- 


LAND AHEAD ! 


291 


merous became these floating objects. Soon Roy 
began to fear that he might be pounded to death 
by the wreckage. It began to collect about his 
boat and to beat against it. Suddenly a great 
log was catapulted, end on, straight at the 
Waldo . With a crash that was audible above 
the storm it stove in one entire side of the launch 
and the Waldo disappeared amid the swirling 
wreckage. But Roy had foreseen what would 
happen. Scrambling to his feet, he leaped far to 
one side as the boat sank, and swimming under 
water came up clear of the wreckage. A large 
tree was floating near by, riding majestically 
through the waves. Roy swam to it, and, grasp- 
ing some roots, pulled himself up on the trunk. 
To his horror he found a rattlesnake coiled up on 
the tree. For a moment Roy was on the point of 
jumping back into the water. But the reptile 
showed no disposition to molest him, and Roy 
stuck to the log. He kept one eye on the snake 
and watched closely for a new support. 

The current drove him on and on, though all 
the while it shunted him toward the south shore. 
Now he could plainly see the city. It was appar- 
ent the waves were carrying him straight for it. 
As he drew near he saw that the water had al- 
ready spread far up in the town. Waves were 
surging about all the houses in the lower part of 


292 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


the city. From these houses persons were wad- 
ing toward the higher ground far inland. It was 
an awful sight. Block after block of dwellings 
stood in the flood, and Roy could see that every 
minute the waters were rising higher. Every- 
where little groups of refugees were struggling 
through the swirling waves, slipping, stumbling, 
clinging desperately to one another as they raced 
with death through the rising waters. With in- 
credible swiftness the flood deepened around the 
doomed dwellings. 

People appeared at second-story windows. 
Terrified men, women, and children who had lin- 
gered too long, leaned from these windows with 
blanched faces, looking for means of rescue. The 
floating wreckage, now blown together in solid 
masses, drove into the city and began to batter 
the inundated dwellings. Roy shuddered. He 
knew what it meant. 

Even as he looked a dwelling collapsed, spread- 
ing apart like a house of cards and falling into the 
flood. Great God!” cried Roy, shuddering 
with horror. There had been faces at the second- 
story window. Another house went down. A 
third split in half, like a beef riven along the 
chine, and the two halves leaned away from each 
other and toppled over into the flood. By the 
height of the water on the buildings Roy judged 


LAND AHEAD ! 


293 


that the waves must be ten feet deep. House 
after house went down. As each collapsed, the 
wreckage added volume to the mass of floating 
debris that was battering the city to pieces. Now 
dwellings went down by tens, now by scores. 
They disappeared faster than Roy could count. 
The noise of the tempest and the battering of 
house against house was indescribable. 

Everywhere men, women, and children were 
leaping from their homes into the flood. Some 
disappeared forever. Some were able to crawl 
up on floating timbers. Some were crushed be- 
yond recognition. As the houses fell apart, the 
terrible wind picked up boards and planks and 
hurled them hither and thither. The air was 
filled with flying timbers. A great board came 
sailing directly toward Roy. It would have 
killed him had it touched him. He fell flat on 
the tree trunk and the board whizzed over his 
shoulder. 

But the movement brought Roy within a few 
inches of the snake. Terrified, he leaped to his 
feet again and began to look for another refuge. 
The side of a house floated by. It was within 
twenty feet. Gathering himself for the effort, 
Roy leaped on a large timber, then to a tele- 
graph-pole, and from that to the side of the house. 
He reached it safely. It was still firm and it 


294 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOE 


rode high out of water. Evidently there were 
big timbers beneath it, buoying it up. Roy 
found that he could walk around on it safely. 

The sight of so many persons distressed and 
dying was sickening. Roy’s heart cried out to 
rescue them but he was helpless. His raft was 
wedged in a mass of debris acres in extent, that 
grew as every collapsing house was added to it, 
that became every moment more compact, and 
that was flung forward by the irresistible current, 
mowing down houses as a scythe topples over 
grain. He dared not try to cross the floating 
mass. Inevitably he would have sunk through 
it. Once beneath the mass death would have 
been certain. All he could do was to stick to his 
raft and wait for the moment for escape. 

On and on drove the mass. Where a few 
minutes previously houses had stood by hundreds, 
there were now only acres and acres of tossing 
debris. On every side Roy saw refugees, riding 
like himself on the wreckage or clinging to float- 
ing logs or planks. 

Anxiously Roy peered through the spray and 
rain, sheltering his eyes with his hands, and try- 
ing to discover where he was going. Behind him 
were the raging waters of the bay. Far to the 
right, beyond the houses among which Roy’s raft 
had drifted, Roy could see more open water. 


LAND AHEAD ! 


295 


Ahead another stretch of writhing water ap- 
peared. Roy judged that the dwellings around 
him must be on a narrow point of land. If he 
were washed across that point, a great, open 
stretch of water would lie before him again. 
Only to the left could he see dry ground. In 
that direction were high bluffs. He bent all his 
efforts toward gaining these heights. 

His raft, heavier than most pieces of wreckage, 
drove through the mass irresistibly under the 
pressure of the waves. Roy saw that it would 
surely batter its way across North Beach, and be 
driven into the water of Nueces Bay, which he 
had glimpsed beyond. If that happened he 
would again be helplessly exposed to the fury of 
the tempest. A long pole came driving by and 
fell into the water beside Roy’s raft. Roy leaned 
far over the edge and grasped it. He found that 
he could touch bottom with it. He tried to work 
his raft toward the high ground. It was so bulky 
he could do nothing with it. 

Two short telephone-poles, lashed together, 
were floating near by. Roy leaped on them and 
found that they would carry him safely. With 
his pole he was able to shove them through the 
water and thrust aside obstructing pieces of 
wreckage. He worked his way clear of the mass 
and got into what had been a street running to- 


296 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

ward the bluffs. Now it was like a canal in 
Venice. The houses on either side stood deep in 
water. None had yet collapsed and the great 
mass of wreckage had largely been held back by 
the rows of houses still standing on the seaward 
side. Up this watery avenue Roy forced his 
craft as best he could. The turbulent waves 
tossed him about, the current continually bore 
him against the houses, and the wreckage im- 
peded him. By the greatest exertion Roy over- 
came all obstacles and drove his little raft nearer 
and nearer his haven. 

As he drew closer to the bluffs, the water be- 
came shallower. Presently it was no more than 
waist-deep. All about him people were drop- 
ping from their homes into the flood. A woman 
with a little child appeared at a window directly 
above Roy’s raft and called for help. 

“ Drop her,” shouted Roy. 

The woman lifted the child through the win- 
dow and dropped her. Roy caught the sobbing 
child and placed her on the raft at his feet. The 
woman crawled from the window and fell into 
Roy’s arms. He was knocked down, but he 
managed to hold the woman on the raft. She 
picked up her child. Roy looked for his pole. 
It had been washed away. He leaped into the 
water, which was no more than waist-deep, and 


LAND AHEAD ! 


297 


tried to drag the raft toward shore. The waves 
battered and beat him. The raft was tossed 
about. But Roy clung to it and gradually 
dragged it into shallower water. Finally he put 
the baby on his shoulder, and leading the woman 
by the hand, waded to safety. 

All about them scores of wet and terrified per- 
sons were similarly seeking safety. “ Go to the 
court-house,” he heard some one say. He in- 
quired the direction and made his way thither 
with the woman and the child. The streets in the 
business section were already under water. The 
court-house was waist-deep, but they gained it in 
safety. “ Thank God! ” exclaimed Roy. 

In the building were scores and scores of terri- 
fied refugees, huddling together in white-faced 
fear. Nobody knew what might happen. For 
a moment Roy did not know what to do. He 
looked with a sick heart at the sad company about 
him. He could do nothing to help them. Then 
he thought of the white faces he had seen in the 
doomed houses past which he had floated. He 
knew what his duty was. He bent and kissed the 
child he had rescued. “ Good luck ! ” he said to 
her, and turning away from this haven of safety, 
went out again into the flood. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


BACK INTO THE STORM 


HE rising waters forced him again to seek 



safety. He struggled through them and 
reached dry land. He was almost exhausted. 
He had had no food since supper time the night 
before. For hours he had been exposed to wind 
and water. He had almost reached the limit of 
endurance. He staggered on, not knowing what 
to do or where to go. A boy scout came hurry- 
ing by. 

“ Where could I get a bite to eat? ” asked Roy. 
“ I’m nearly dead.” 

“ Go to the Red Cross headquarters in the 
First Presbyterian Church,” replied the scout, 
and directed Roy how to find the church. 

Roy staggered on. He was so nearly ex- 
hausted that he could hardly make his way up to 
the church. Other refugees, like himself, were 
heading for the place. It was a sorry procession. 
At length the church was reached. There was 
food in abundance and coffee steaming hot. Roy 


298 


BACK INTO THE STORM 


299 


ate as though famished. He drank cup after 
cup of coffee. Never had he tasted anything so 
good. The coffee warmed and stimulated him. 
His strength returned to him as he rested and ate. 
He watched the Red Cross women as they min- 
istered to other refugees. He admired the cool, 
skilled way they did their work, the quiet manner 
in which they cared for others when perhaps their 
own homes were imperiled. The thought was 
like a galvanic shock to Roy. This was no place 
for him, this warm and comfortable church. He 
had a duty to perform, too. His duty was out 
there in the storm. And again he thought of 
those white faces at the windows. 

Back into the storm he plunged, seeking where 
he might be most helpful. In no time he was at 
the water’s edge again. Scores of persons were 
still marooned in their houses. They must be 
gotten out or they would be drowned. The 
water was almost at its highest and the storm was 
licking up dwelling after dwelling. Roy looked 
about him. Four white faces were peering from 
a near-by house. Roy waded toward it. The 
water crept up around him but he gained the 
building. The sea had broken open a door. 
Roy entered, found the stairway, and went up to 
the terrified inmates. They were a mother and 
three little girls. 


300 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

“ Come quick,” he said, “ or it will be too late.” 

The children held back; afraid to step into the 
water. “ Get on my back,” said Roy, picking up 
the largest child. 

He went down the stairs and struggled to land. 
The water was waist-deep and running like a 
mill-race. 

“ Wait here until I bring the others,” said Roy 
as he placed the child in a sheltered doorway. 

Again he waded through the flood. The water 
nearly swept him off his feet. He got another 
child on his back. 

“ Come,” he said to the woman. “ If you do 
not leave at once you can never get ashore. I 
will come back for the baby.” 

The woman hesitated. “ You are risking 
everything,” said Roy. “ We’ll all be drowned 
if you do not come at once.” 

The woman began to sob hysterically. She re- 
fused to move. Roy was sadly perplexed. 
Something must be done at once. But how? 
Into Roy’s mind flashed the thought of his com- 
mander. He knew what Captain Lansford 
would do. He would compel obedience. Roy 
ceased to argue with the woman. 

“ Come with me,” he shouted harshly. He 
seized the woman by the shoulder and roughly 
forced her down the stairs. Then he seized her 


BACK INTO THE STORM 


301 


hand. “ Come on,” he said roughly and dragged 
her into the flood. 

Desperately he fought to get her to land. The 
child on his back weighted him down. The cur- 
rent swirled about him. He could hardly keep 
his feet. He struggled on, dragging, pushing, 
pulling the woman toward shore. A plank 
washed near him. He grabbed it and shoved it 
to his companion. The plank steadied her and 
she made better progress. They gained the shal- 
lower water and got beyond the reach of the 
waves. 

“ Go to that doorway and wait for me,” said 
Roy, pointing out the refuge of the child he had 
already taken ashore. He handed the child on 
his back to its mother, Then he turned back. 
This time he had to swim. The waters had risen 
so high he could no longer wade. He reached 
the house and found the baby safe on the upper 
floor. At first he did not know how to get her 
ashore. She was too little to cling to his shoul- 
ders. Something had to be done quick. He 
snatched a sheet from the bed, folded it, and tied 
the baby on his back. Then he went down into 
the flood, and struggling desperately, got back to 
land. He took the baby in his arms and leading 
the others, made his way again up to the Red 
Cross headquarters. When they got there, night 


302 THE YOUNG WIEELESS OPEEATOE 

was not far distant. The crest of the flood had 
been reached. The wind still blew at hurricane 
force. Roy delivered his charges to a Red Cross 
nurse and was about to turn away, but the woman 
he had rescued caught him by the arm. 

“ How can I ever thank you? ” she cried. “ If 
you had not compelled me to go we should all 
have drowned.” 

Roy did not know what to say. He suddenly 
felt embarrassed. “ I’m glad you’re all safe,” 
he muttered and turned away. 

But he did not go back into the storm. Sud- 
denly a great weakness possessed him. His legs 
refused to hold him up. He was quivering all 
over. He believed he was about to be sick. He 
sought out a warm corner and sat down. But he 
was not sick. It was only outraged nature tak- 
ing her toll. Roy was utterly exhausted. The 
coffee he had drunk had given him a false 
strength. Now that the crisis was over he was 
suddenly weak and tired — so tired. As he sat in 
the corner, he thought over the events of the past 
week. Always his thoughts came back to his 
captain, that great, rough, rude commander. 
Real kindness, Roy understood for the first time, 
does not always consist in soft words or an easy 
manner. He realized that now from his own ex- 
perience. He had been kind to the limit of kind- 


BACK INTO THE STOBM 


303 


ness to the woman he had rescued. But he had 
treated her with violent roughness. He saw his 
commander in a new light. Pondering over the 
matter, he fell asleep. And for hours, huddled 
in his corner, he was like one dead. 

Morning came. Roy awoke. He was en- 
tirely refreshed. He jumped to his feet, con- 
fused at first. He did not know where he was. 
Then the whole terrible situation came to him. 
He supposed his companions were dead. He 
tried to shut the memory of his terrible experience 
out of his mind but could not. The suffering 
about him weighed him down, sickened him. He 
could stand danger better than distress. He 
went outside and looked about. 

The sight that greeted him was appalling. 
The North Beach district, where he had so lately 
battled with death between the houses, was a 
surging sea. Three great structures still stood 
with the waves beating about them. A passer-by 
told him they were a private residence, the old 
North Beach Hotel, and the Spohn Sanitarium. 
Twenty-four hours earlier fifteen hundred houses 
had stood where now Roy saw only tossing waves. 
He turned from the sight in horror. The three 
buildings that remained on North Beach were 
terribly battered. Porticoes, doors, shutters, 
chimneys, and other parts had been wrenched 


304 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

away by wave and wind. Whole wings had been 
tom from the sanitarium. As Roy looked at it, 
he saw with horror that there were people still in 
it — doubtless sick and helpless. 

Even as he looked Roy saw a man wading out 
toward the hospital. He watched, fascinated. 
Now swimming, now wading, the man fought his 
way to the battered building. A white-robed 
nurse appeared in a doorway. Presently the 
man faced about and fought his way back to land. 

Roy turned back into the church. “ Who is 
in charge here? ” he asked one of the Red Cross 
workers. 

“ Miss Mildred Seaton,” was the reply. “ She 
is over there, talking to that messenger from 
Mayor Boone’s office.” 

Roy made his way toward the two. “ Miss 
Seaton,” he said, when she had finished her talk 
with the mayor’s messenger, “ I want to know 
what I can do to help.” 

“ What is your name? What can you do? 
We need workers of all sorts.” 

“ I am Roy Mercer,” began Roy, “ wireless 
man on the steamship Lycoming ” 

His companion cut him short. “ What we 
need more than anything else,” she said, “ is 
help. All the wires are down and we can get no 
word out. Can you send a message? ” 


BACK IK TO THE STORM 


305 


“ Is there a wireless station here? ” asked Roy. 

“ No.” 

“ Do you know of any amateur operators? I 
might be able to use their equipment.” 

“ I don’t know of any. Go to the mayor.” 

She called to the messenger, who was just leav- 
ing the room. “ This is Mr. Mercer,” she said. 
“ Will you please take him directly to Mayor 
Roone. He is a wireless operator. Perhaps he 
can get help for us.” 

The messenger took Roy directly to the mayor, 
and introduced him. 

“ I suppose there are some amateur operators 
in Corpus Christi,” said the mayor, “ but I do not 
know of any. However, there is a shop where all 
sorts of electrical equipment are for sale. Maybe 
you could find what you need there.” He told 
Roy what he should say if he got into communi- 
cation with anybody. 

Then he turned to his messenger. “ Go with 
this gentleman,” he said. “ Spare no effort to 
get what he needs. Lack of communication is 
our worst trouble now.” 

They found the owner of the shop. He had 
the necessary equipment if it could be gotten, but 
his store was under three feet of water. 

“ We’ll have to wade,” he said, “ but we’ll take 
a look.” 


306 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

They reached the store and crawled in through 
a broken show-window. They had no difficulty 
to find wire, although it was on the floor. Only 
after a long search under the muddy waters did 
they secure a condenser. Neither wire nor con- 
denser was any the worse for the wetting. F rom 
drawers and shelves, some awash and some high 
and dry, they took one article after another — 
receivers, a tuning coil, insulators, some large 
batteries. But they could find no spark- 
gap. 

“ Have you a repair-shop? ” asked Roy. 
“ And are there tools and materials in it? ” 

“ Yes. It’s right back of the shop, and it is 
flooded, too.” 

“ Never mind that,” said Roy. “ I’m used to 
water by this time.” 

They waded into the shop. The water was 
about two inches below the level of the work- 
bench. 

“ Good! ” said Roy. “ This will do fine! ” 

Skilfully he cut a block for the base, sawed 
some pieces for posts, and drilled them and fast- 
ened them upright at the proper distances from 
one another. He got a short, slender metal rod, 
cut it in half, ground the ends into sharp points 
and thrust them into his uprights. It was a very 
crude affair, but when properly wired up would 


BACK INTO THE STOEM 


307 


work. The difficulty now was to get a key. 
None was to be found. They gathered up all the 
tools, wires and other things they would need, 
and left the shop. At the railway station the 
mayor’s messenger secured a telegraph-key. 
Roy said that he could alter it a trifle so that it 
would answer. Then, soaked but satisfied, they 
carried their materials to the very highest part of 
the city. 

There Roy was made welcome in a private resi- 
dence. Rapidly he fashioned an aerial. With 
the help of the owner of the house he suspended 
this aerial between a high tree near by and a 
chimney of the residence. He brought his lead-in 
wire through a window, rapidly wired up his in- 
struments, and coupled on his batteries. As he 
pressed his key, a fat spark leaped between the 
points of his spark-gap. Skilfully he adjusted 
these and turned to his host. 

“ If only I had a wireless signal book,” he 
sighed. “ It may be hard to raise anybody, for I 
don’t know a single local call. Probably I’ll have 
to send out an SOS. What is the nearest place 
where they would be likely to have a Marconi sta- 
tion?” 

“ Probably San Antonio.” 

“ How far is that in a straight line? ” 

“ I don’t knoAV exactly. Perhaps a hundred 


308 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPEBATOR 


and twenty-five miles — possibly a hundred and 
thirty.” 

Roy looked at his batteries dubiously. “ I’ll 
make the effort anyway,” he said. “ Maybe 
they’ll carry that distance.” 

“ I hope you can get them,” said Roy’s host 
anxiously. “ We need help badly. We espe- 
cially need soldiers. Looting has begun.” 

“ Soldiers! ” cried Roy. “ Why didn’t I think 
of them before? There’s an army post at 
Brownsville. How far is that? ” 

“ About the same distance as San Antonio.” ‘ 

“ Thank heaven I know their call signal,” cried 
Roy. 

He pressed his finger to his key. Blue sparks 
leaped across his spark-gap. “ WUZ — WUZ — 
WUZ,” he flashed. 

Then he sat breathless and listened. Would 
his battery carry far enough? There was no an- 
swering signal. 

“ WUZ- WUZ- WUZ,” flashed out Roy. 
Then once more he sat tense, listening. 

Something crackled in his ear. “ Who is call- 
ing WUZ? ” 

“ Corpus Christi,” flashed back Roy. “ City 
terribly damaged by tidal wave. Scores drowned. 
Hundreds of houses washed away. Property 
loss millions. Need food, medicines, workers, 


BACK INTO THE STORM 309 

soldiers. Looting has begun. For God’s sake 
rush help. Gordon Boone, Mayor.” 

“ Who is this talking? ” came the reply. 
“ Never heard of a wireless station at Corpus 
Christi.” 

“ This is Roy Mercer, shipwrecked wireless 
man, talking on emergency outfit for city author- 
ities. Call ABC.” 

So Roy sent abroad the news of the city’s 
plight, even as Paul Revere carried to every Mid- 
dlesex village and farm the news of Lexington’s 
peril. Next morning soldiers marched into the 
city. Martial law was declared. Sentries were 
posted. Corpus Christi was safe. Other helpers 
rushed to the stricken community. A Red Cross 
relief train sped to the rescue. The Salvation 
Army sent workers. Physicians and nurses 
came. Food and supplies poured in. The 
stunned city pulled itself together. Workers 
were organized to search out and care for the 
dead, to clear the streets, to look after the home- 
less, to feed the hungry. Emergency tent camps 
arose. Canteens were opened. Boy scouts col- 
lected clothes, carried messages, and were the legs 
of the rescue work. And until telephonic com- 
munication was restored, Roy sat at his instru- 
ment hour after hour, sending and receiving mes- 
sages for the stricken city. 


310 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 

The air and the sea brought help. An army 
aviator dropped thirty pounds of sorely needed 
yeast into the city. The flood had spoiled all ex- 
isting stocks. As soon as the sea subsided, boats 
rushed to Corpus Christi, bearing gifts. The sea- 
going tug Rotarian came from Galveston, carry- 
ing money, supplies, and workers. 

When Roy learned of the Rotarian 3 s arrival he 
sought her out and went aboard. The captain 
met him as he came up the gangplank. 

“ Can you tell me anything about the Lycom- 
ing or the Empress ? 33 demanded Roy. 

“ Both safe in Galveston,” said the tug’s skip- 
per. “ They are pretty badly battered up, but 
still sound. They had an awful fight to make it. 
The Empress broke her rudder and the Lycom- 
ing took her in tow. Nobody but John Lans- 
ford could have done it. I tell you he’s a won- 
der — heart like a woman’s — courage like a grizzly 
— rough as barnacles on a ship’s bottom. The 
worst storm that ever blew — and I guess this was 
it— couldn’t make him desert a ship in trouble. 
He was darn near to port, he was, and didn’t he 
turn back into the hurricane and take the Em- 
press in tow. Saved her, too. Put an oil slick 
down, got lines aboard of her, and had her turn 
her engines just enough to give her headway. 
His lines would have parted in a minute if he’d 


BACK INTO THE STORM 


311 


had to pull her whole weight. Oh ! He’s a won- 
der all right. It was a great rescue — great! ” 

“ Was — was anybody lost? ” asked Roy, hesi- 
tating. 

“ Small boat’s crew, including the third mate 
and the wireless man.” 

“ And nothing has been heard from them? ” 

“ Absolutely nothing.” 

“ I am the wireless man,” said Roy quietly. 

“The deuce you are!” exclaimed the Rota - 
rian’s captain. “ The deuce you are! Put her 
there,” and he shook Roy’s hand warmly for a full 
minute. “ I’m mighty glad you pulled through. 
They say you did great work.” 

Roy’s heart leaped with joy. At last recogni- 
tion had come to him. His captain had changed 
his mind about him. But to the tug’s captain he 
said simply, “ I’m glad to hear about the two 
steamers. I wish we could get as good news of 
the third mate and the others in the life-boat.” 

“ Aren’t they here with you? ” 

Roy told him how they had been lost. Then 
he added, “Will you take me back to Galveston 
with you? ” 

“ Surest thing you know,” exclaimed the cap- 
tain. 

So it happened that when the Rotarian, a few 
days later, tied up at her pier in Galveston, Roy 


312 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


Mercer was the first person ashore. A single 
glance told him that Galveston was unharmed. 
The captain had already told him, however, how 
the sea-wall had saved the city. Roy raced down 
the pier and up the gangplank to the Lycoming. 
The first person he met was the third mate. Roy 
stopped dead in astonishment, then sprang for- 
ward and grasped the mate’s hand. 

“ How did you get here? ” he cried in astonish- 
ment. 

The mate told him that after he, Roy, was 
washed away from the others on the overturned 
boat, the life-boat was driven straight toward the 
highest point on Mustang Island. A few sand- 
dunes remained above the flood, and on these the 
crew found refuge. Two of the sailors died from 
exposure, for they had to stay on their tiny 
refuge, exposed to wind and rain, for fully forty- 
eight hours. Then they got across Aransas Pass, 
found food and shelter, and later made their way 
along the railroad to San Patricio, where they 
got a train back to Galveston. Barring the 
sailors who died, all were back on the Lycoming 
safe and sound. 

Roy pressed on to the captain’s quarters. 
He was very eager to see him. He felt sure 
that this time a warm welcome awaited him. He 
rapped on the captain’s door. 


BACK INTO THE STORM 


313 


“ Come in,” said a rough voice. 

Roy entered and stood before his commander. 
“ I report for duty again, sir,” he said. 

The captain took his outstretched hand. “ I’m 
glad you escaped,” he said, “ but you had no 
business in that small boat. Your post of duty 
was in the wireless house. You left me in great 
difficulties. There was no way to communicate 
quickly with the Empress. But I’m very glad 
you escaped.” 


CHAPTER XIX 


VICTORY 

P OOR Roy! He had come back expecting a 
warm welcome from the captain and had 
been greeted with a reprimand. He backed out 
of the captain’s room, and hot tears welled to his 
eyes despite his effort to suppress them. He be- 
lieved that he had come to understand his captain. 
He believed that his roughness was but a mask 
for a great heart. But it was evident he was 
wrong. The captain had no heart. The captain 
cared nothing for him. The captain still refused 
to change his mind about wireless. And that 
meant that when the ship got back to New York 
Roy would pack his bag and say farewell to her 
forever. He had done his best to win recogni- 
tion and failed. His errors were those of igno- 
rance and inexperience, not wilful wrongs. He 
had tried so hard to help save the Empress. Now 
he was reprimanded for what he had done. 

Suddenly a new thought came into Roy’s mind. 
“ He said that I left him in difficulties. He said 
314 


VICTORY 


315 


that I left him in difficulties,” repeated Roy to 
himself. “ That means that I was useful to him 
and that he missed my help. I see that it was 
wrong to leave my post. Others could row the 
boat, but no one else could send wireless mes- 
sages. But since the two ships are safe, I’m glad 
I went. I’m glad something made the old 
dragon realize that wireless is worth something.” 

The purser and the first mate greeted Roy so 
warmly that it made him forget his disappoint- 
ment at the captain’s cold reception. In Mr. 
Robbins and Mr. Young, at least, he had two 
firm friends. So long as he lived, he would never 
forget them. 

He went to his room and took off his torn and 
stained uniform. “ I ought to get another,” he 
muttered, “ but I won’t. After I reach New 
York I’ll probably never need a uniform.” 

He dressed himself in the old suit he had worn 
the day he came to New York. That was only 
three months previously, but Roy had seen so 
much and gone through so much that it seemed 
like ages. What Roy did not appreciate was how 
he had grown during those three months — not in 
body, but in mind and character. The stem dis- 
cipline of his captain had held him so rigidly to 
his duty that it had become second nature to do 
his duty. He had developed those very qualities 


316 THE YOUNG WIBELESS OPEEATOB 

that his captain most desired in his subordinates, 
but apparently could not see in Roy. 

After a while Roy went down on the lower 
deck, where he heard the sound of hammers and 
saws. Rails had been carried away, bulwarks 
smashed, and many minor injuries done to the 
ship. But these could be readily repaired and 
carpenters were working busily to remedy the 
trouble. Meantime, the cargo was shooting into 
the hold as fast as ever. When he had fully in- 
spected the Lycoming , Roy went over to the Em- 
press . She was battered pretty badly. Roy 
went aboard and made the acquaintance of Stim- 
son, the wireless man. The latter greeted him 
with the utmost cordiality and introduced him to 
the ship’s officers, from the captain down. All 
expressed their gratitude to Roy for the part he 
had had in their rescue. So Roy went back to 
the Lycoming much happier in mind than he had 
been when he left her. 

Twenty-four hours later the Lycoming 
steamed out of the harbor. Five days later still 
she lay at her dock in New York. It was Roy’s 
last day aboard of her, he supposed, and he was 
depressed and sick at heart. He had become 
fond of the ship and her crew. He had even 
come to love his commander, though not in the 
way he loved the purser. Just now he felt very 


VICTORY 


317 


hard toward Captain Lansford. He expected 
the new wireless man would come aboard in a few 
hours. Before he came, Roy wished to say good- 
bye to his friends, so that he could leave promptly. 
He started for the purser’s office. On the way, 
he passed a young man who inquired for the cap- 
tain. Roy directed him to the captain’s quarters, 
then turned away. He heard the door open and 
the man say, “ Captain Lansford, I’m the new 
wireless man. The Marconi people instructed 
me to report to you for duty.” 

“ New wireless man! ” Roy heard the captain 
roar, and though he did not mean to eavesdrop, 
he stood as though rooted to the deck. “ New 
wireless man ! ” cried the captain. “ What do 
I want of a new wireless man? I’ve got the best 
wireless man afloat. Go back and tell ’em so.” 

“ But I understood that you wanted to make 
a change — that your present operator is too 
young.” 

“ You did, eh? Well, he is a bit young, but I 
can trust him absolutely. And he’s got more 
brains than your whole outfit put together. It’ll 
be a cold day when I go to sea without him. 
Good-day, sir.” 

The surprised Marconi man turned about and 
made for the pier. Roy fled to the wireless house. 
His heart was beating wildly. His whole soul 


318 THE YOUNG WIRELESS OPERATOR 


was singing. He had made good. The captain 
wanted him to stay. The captain did like him, 
despite his rough manner. His jubilation was so 
great he could hardly sit still. 

Presently his brow puckered. How was he to 
get the captain to tell him that he was to stay? 
An idea came to Roy. He jumped to his feet 
and ran down to the captain’s cabin. 

“ Come in,” said a gruff voice, in answer to his 
knock. 

“ I’ve come to say good-bye, sir,” said Roy. 
“ You know my three months are up. I am 
sorry, sir, for I should like to stay on the Lycom- 
ing. Good-bye, sir.” 

The captain jumped to his feet. “ Who told 
you to leave the ship? ” he roared. 

“No one now, sir, but when I came aboard you 
said I was to stay three months. The time is up. 
I supposed you wanted me to leave.” 

“ I don’t. That is, if I’ve got to have a wire- 
less man aboard you might as well stay. I don’t 
want to have to break another one in. You are 
not relieved from duty. Go to your quarters, 
sir.” 

Roy went back to the wireless house. The 
captain’s gruff words could not still the song that 
his heart was singing. He had won. He had 
made good. His captain liked him, perhaps 


VICTORY 


319 


loved him — in his strange way. He thanked his 
lucky stars that he had been an eavesdropper. 
Now he knew the truth about the captain. The 
skipper of the Rotarian had told the truth. The 
rough manner was only a mask to cover a great 
heart. All Roy’s pent-up affection went out to 
this commander. He understood him now. 
Like the first mate and the purser, he felt a genu- 
ine affection for his captain. It had taken a long 
time to see beneath the surface, but nothing could 
now blind his eyes. He understood his com- 
mander. And, best of all, he had made good. 

“ Well,” he sighed joyfully, “ I guess I’ll need 
a new uniform after all.” 
























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